


cause i could never hold a perfect thing (and not demolish it)

by comebackbehere, phoenix_inthe_fire



Series: Penelope’s Pack [5]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22546651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comebackbehere/pseuds/comebackbehere, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_inthe_fire/pseuds/phoenix_inthe_fire
Summary: ‘they told me once, nothing grows when a house ain't a home. is it true, honestly? when it's all a part of me?’orthe one where josie wants answers and brings to live something that will bring penelope and their pack to their knees
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Series: Penelope’s Pack [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1308326
Comments: 35
Kudos: 140





	1. the warning signs can feel like they’re butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! phoenix_inthe_fire and I are back to take y’all on another adventure with Penelope and her little Backpack Pack. This one is a little darker than our last and tests their friendships and their loyalty to their pack. We sincerely hope y’all enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it! Now, off y’all go...

“Wait, wait! You would rather eat a handful of fire ants then spend an entire evening trapped in an elevator with JLo?” Cameron gaps through a mouthful of banana. “What’s wrong with Jennifer Lopez?”

Sofiá tilts her head, “I don’t like her.”

“So, you’re saying you like fire ants more? That is ridiculous.” Cameron scowls. “Jennifer Lopez is fucking _Jennifer Lopez._ I’m...I’m speechless.”

“Can’t be that speechless cause I see that big mouth still moving.” Sofiá snorts, but it fades to a cough as a hand collides with her head. “What the _fuck_ , Reyna? I was joking!”

“Still not a reason to talk to her like that.” Reyna replies with boredom in her voice. “I don’t speak to Isabella in that manner so I’d appreciate it if you’d show Cameron the same courtesy.”

Isabella smiles as she rubs the back of her girlfriend’s head, “She’s right, my love. We should be respectful of each other.”

“I do respect Cameron!” Sofiá protests as she gestures wildly towards said girl. “She’s my _alpha._ I let her tell me what to do.”

Cameron smirks happily as she snacks on a carrot stick, “If that’s so, Cameron says go jump off the highest cliff in town.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. You’re so very funny.” Sofiá drawls with a roll of her eyes. “How come she doesn’t get smacked for being sarcastic?”

“Oh, I’ll smack her later.” Reyna purrs.

“I’m literally going to set myself on fire.” Sofiá drawls as she turns her head to nuzzle into Isabella. “Tell me when the nasty couple goes back into their cave.”

“What are you assholes doing?”

Cameron stands up with chocolate pudding smeared around her mouth, “It’s my favorite human being!”

“Wow.” Reyna scoffs.

“ _Human,_ babe.” Cameron points out as she makes grabby hands towards Penelope. “Come give me some sugar.”

Penelope plops across from her, “Fuck off.”

“You’ll have to excuse her, she’s a little grumpy today.” Josie sighs as she sits beside her girlfriend. “She’s convinced she failed her last potions quiz because the last seven answers she got were all B’s.”

“It’s a logical reason to panic.” Penelope huffs as she stabs her salad. “There’s no way seven answers are going to the same back to back like that, Jojo.”

“Baby, I promise you passed.” Josie assures her as she pecks Penelope’s shoulder. “You studied for _days._ If you failed then the rest of us are screwed too.”

“Speak for yourself. I aced that shit.” Sofiá shrugs with a lopsided grin.

“I bet you didn’t. You ain’t got nothing but air in that balloon head.” Cameron snorts, but it immediately turns into a cough when a hand collides with her head. “Ow! What the hell, babe? That was my head!”

“Don’t talk about her like that.” Reyna scolds with a pointed look at her girlfriend. “How would you feel is someone belittled your intelligence?”

Cameron flushes, “Fine.”

“You’re so whipped.” Penelope chuckles.

“Says you!” Cameron protests as she slams her fists down on the lunch table. “I don’t know why I decided to befriend you!”

“You were probably forced to.” Sofiá drawls.

Cameron goes quiet for a moment, “Was not.”

The conversation quickly changes as Isabella asks about an assignment that Reyna apparently forgot about and once again their table erupts in chaos. Around them, the cafeteria swells with their peers as they chatter and eat; it’s peaceful, a peace that all of them can’t help but feel nervous about. Although they’re happy, the pack knows happiness doesn’t always stick around. So, for now they vow to enjoy the quiet until all the noise comes back again.

-

“If you stare any harder, you’re going to light her on fire.” Hope sing songs as she breezes behind Lizzie. 

Lizzie catches a whiff of Hope’s scented perfume even as she flinches and her arms wind tighter across her chest, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Hope smirks as she attempts to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lizzie, “You’re staring at your sister. Why?” 

Lizzie grinds her teeth to keep the venom from spitting out of her lungs. Josie was further in front of them, seated at an outside bench with Penelope and all of her little wayward pack. Whatever Josie was saying seemed to have them all enraptured; Cameron’s mouth was half open, her arm tight around Reyna who had one eyebrow raised and her lips slotted into a smirk. Even Sofiá, who normally couldn’t care less about anyone else, was staring at Josie headon. Isabella had her head on Sofiá’s shoulder but her mouth was split in a grin too. The one that stung the most was the openly enamored look on Penelope’s face.

“Jealous maybe?” Hope teases, bumping her hips into Lizzie’s. “You got feelings for Penelope?” 

“No,” Lizzie barks out sharply, her eyes cutting to Hope in a glare but it softens at the openly expectant look on Hope’s face. “Not Penelope.” 

Hope’s brow furrows, the playful smile melting off her face as she turns to stare back at the group again, “Who?” 

“Mind your business.” Lizzie sniffs, “What do you even want?” 

Hope scoffs a laugh, “Wow, asshole, I was going to ask if you wanted to go off campus with me but if you’re going to be a bi…”  
  


“Oh my god, yes please, lets go.” Lizzie cuts her off quickly. She unfolds her arms and grabs Hope’s wrist. It didn’t matter where Hope even wanted to take her, as long as it wasn’t this campus where she had to watch the whole world love her sister more than it did her. 

Hope grins with all her teeth, “Fantastic.” She breathes and even though Lizzie knows she’s going to regret some part of this, she feels instantly relieved when they leave the school grounds.

-

“I don’t _understand._ ” Penelope huffs. “Why is this one translated into Latin, but this one isn’t? How can only half of the spell be in Latin? Babe, that makes no sense.”

Josie smiles adoringly, “It’s just how it was written. It doesn’t really matter, we’re not actually performing it, just translating.”

“Yeah, because... _ow_!” Penelope whines, and her gaze jumps to an innocent looking Sofiá. “What the fuck, Sof?”

Sofiá glances up with a smile, “Hm?”

“I’m not dumb, I know you threw a fucking _chapstick_ at me.” Penelope grumbles. “I lovingly gave that to you as a gift.”

“You gave that to me and told me that it was to help me keep my lips from getting crusty because I spend my time as a mouth breather while my jaw is dropped around Isabella.” Sofiá scoffs. “I hardly call that a _gift._ ”

“My friendship is your true gift.” Penelope chirps, and she holds her textbook up to block the eyeshadow container. “Okay. Now you’re just being hateful.”

“P, we really need to focus…” Josie pleads.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Penelope offers as she flashes Sofiá a glare. “So, what exactly is this spell supposed to do?”

“It’s a healing spell, but judging from the incantation it hasn’t been used in a while.” Josie frowns. “My guess is that it hasn’t been used in a few hundred years.”

“We should try it.” Penelope teases, and Josie has to smother the urge to kiss her. “Think of all the fun it would be, Jojo. You, me, a room full of candles, and an accidental spell that... _fuck_!”

“No flirting in my presence.” Sofiá scolds.

“You could’ve put my eye out, asshole.” Penelope snaps as she chucks the pen back at Sofiá. “You need to be more careful.”

“On the contrary, little witch, if I wanted you to lose an eye then you would’ve lost an eye.” Sofiá purrs with a wiggle of her brow. “I just merely wanted you to put your dick back in your pants.”

Penelope pouts angrily, “Why are you even here?”

“Because _you’re_ here.” Sofiá replies with ease. “I have to wait for Reyna to stop riding Cameron’s face and Isabella to finish tutoring some dumbass so I figured I’d hunt you down.”

“You’re disgusting.” Penelope laughs.

“Hey, I complimented you. I said that I’m here because of you.” Sofiá sneers. “I could be doing other things like hunting squirrels. Or finding ways to light Hope on fire.”

Penelope rolls her eyes, “You’re still disgusting.”

“Rude.” Sofiá scolds as she throws a pillow that collides violently with Penelope’s head. “How dare you speak to me like that!”

“Fuck you!”

With a quick jerk, Penelope throws her papers and textbooks aside in favor of launching herself across the room to tackle Sofiá back onto her bed and into her collection of pillows. Sofiá laughs happily at the attention and struggles to free her hands as she begins to beat Penelope with an abandoned pillow. Josie can only imagine what people must think as they walk by Sofiá and Penelope’s dorm and hear threats and expletives being yelled out. Then again, Josie figures everyone is probably used to it.

Josie sighs in defeat as she snaps her textbook closed and watches Sofiá carefully cradle Penelope as they wrestle. Sofiá is so careful with her, treating her like she can break under any rough touches. It pains Josie sometimes, moments like these, because it makes her realize how adored her girlfriend truly is. How needed she is. Penelope has her own pack, a pack that will go down swinging for her. A pack that rarely wants to be away from her. It makes her realize how loved Penelope is, and how lonely Josie herself feels.

-

“Wait, wait. Please tell me there’s more to this story.” Reyna pleads as she gestures between Isabella and Lizzie. “You two genuinely were each other’s first kiss?”

Lizzie rolls her eyes, “I’m not proud of it.”

“That’s just hurtful.” Isabella sniffles as she presses a dramatic hand to her chest. “We were five and it was the greatest moment of her _life._ And, let’s just make it clear, she kissed _me_. I was just trying to make a mud cake.”

“We were playing house.” Lizzie groans as she tilts her head back. “Every show I watched growing up always showed the husband kissing the wife when he came home.”

“Aw. That’s cute. You were the dude?” Cameron cackles.

“I _hate_ you. All of you. Why am I here?” Lizzie demands, and then she feels a thigh brush against hers and remembers. “I could be doing so many better things.”

“Yeah, but you’re not.” Penelope drawls as she wiggles her eyebrows. “You’ve joined the dark side, just like Hope. Once you’re in the pack, you can’t go back.”

“Speaking of pack. Where’s Jo?” Cameron asks.

“I don’t know.” Penelope pouts as she scoops up her phone. “I’ve been texting her, but she left me on read about an hour ago. Which is weird. She never does that.”

“She’s been kind of distant.” Lizzie frowns as she takes a sip of her coffee. “I mean, it’s hard to keep an eye on her since _someone_ decided to steal her from me.”

Cameron smirks playfully, “I don’t even feel bad about it. She’s the best roommate. Did you know she does my laundry sometimes?”

“Don’t take advantage of her like that.” Reyna scolds as she flicks her girlfriend’s ear. “She’s probably stressed enough with all the tests we’ve had thrown at us.”

Sofiá scowls, “You really kissed her?”

“Baby.” Isabella laughs as she turns her head to press a lingering kiss to Sofiá’s cheek. “We left that conversation in the dust ages ago, we’re talking about Josie.”

“I’m still stuck on it.” Sofiá pouts as she curls her arms protectively around the girl in her lap. “But I will switch gears because I know Josie is our little witch’s favorite subject.”

Penelope preens, “She’s my favorite everything.”

“Excuse me?” Cameron gasps.

“Cammy. We are _not_ going through this again. I told you that you’re my favorite alpha.” Penelope sighs. “But Josie is the love of my life, and I will always love her more.”

Cameron shakes her head, “The fucking _betrayal_.”

Hope smiles around the rim of her own coffee cup, “Get used to it, Cameron. You’ll always come second to Josette Saltzman.”

“That’s my baby.” Penelope shrugs.

“Gag me.” Sofiá groans.

“Oh fuck _off_.” Penelope snorts. “You and Cameron don’t get to sit there and act like you’re not equally as whipped as I am. We are suckers for our girls.”

Cameron salutes, “Guilty as charged.”

“She’s just so cute.” Sofiá whines as she nuzzles her nose into Isabella’s shoulder. “And warm. Always so warm.”

“I love hanging out with you guys, it’s not like I sit here in sadness and think about how _single_ I am. Nope. Not all.” Lizzie huffs. “It’s not like you guys don’t make me question if I’ll ever have something like this.”

“You will.” Hope jumps in, and the pack trade amused smiles. “You’re going to find someone amazing, Lizzie. You deserve it.”

Lizzie flashes her a shy smile, “You think?”

“Of course. You Saltzman women are kind of irresistible.” Hope teases with a wink that has Lizzie blushing.

“What’s going on here?”

Penelope practically climbs onto her knees to turn on the sofa she is sat on, “There you are! I’ve been texting you.”

“Left my phone in the dorm.” Josie scowls as she eyes the group lounged out together. “I guess I should’ve brought it with me, didn’t know I’d be missing out on a group meet up.”

“We totally crashed Lizzie and Hope’s non date. Even though Hope definitely bought Lizzie’s coffee and they were most _definitely_ making bedroom eyes at each other.” Sofiá chirps. “It was disgusting but endearing.”

Reyna huffs, “You talk way too much.”

“It isn’t a date!” Lizzie protests.

Hope smiles sadly, “We were just catching up.”

“What are you up to?” Isabella asks as she nods towards the bundle of books Josie has. “Looks like you were about to do some serious studying yourself, Jo.”

“Yeah, babe. Should’ve invited me.” Penelope pouts as she reaches out in an attempt to grab a book. “What is all of that?”

Josie turns away, “Nothing.”

Reyna reaches out to catch the back of Penelope’s jacket before she tumbles over the couch, “Alright. You don’t have to tell us. And you certainly didn’t have to pull away from her like that, she almost fell.”

“Sorry, babe. It’s just...not important.” Josie sighs as she looks the group over. “I’ll let you guys get back to your catch up.”

“You’re not staying?” Penelope frowns.

“No. I don’t think I should.” Josie mutters. “I need to get back to my dorm and start going over some stuff. I’ll text you later, we can grab dinner. I’ll see you later.”

“Wait!” Penelope calls as Josie turns on her heel, and her girlfriend skids to a stop. “You didn’t give me a kiss…”

Cameron coughs into her fist, “Whipped.”

Penelope ignores Cameron as she purses her lips and waits for Josie to close the distance between them. The kiss is soft, and Josie seems to melt into it for a moment as she fumbles her books into the crook of her elbow to cup Penelope’s jaw with her empty hand. For a moment, the buzz of everything goes away as Penelope carries them both away with a gentle nip of her teeth. As soon as her lungs ache, Josie pulls back and drops one last kiss to Penelope’s forehead before she turns away and leaves without another word.

Isabella tilts her head, “What’s up with her?”

“Like I said, probably stress.” Reyna offers as she watches Penelope. “You okay over there, little witch? Her kiss break you?”

“No.” Penelope sighs as she turns to drop back onto the leather couch. “She just...something feels off with her. When has Josie ever ditched us like that?”

“I’ll keep an eye on her.” Lizzie assures her. “I’m sure Reyna is right though, you know how Josie gets about tests. She wants to make sure she’s at the top of each class.”

Sofiá flashes Penelope a glance, “Don’t worry so much, Pen. We really will keep an eye on her, okay? All of us. She’s pack.”

“Okay.” Penelope whispers as she brushes her fingers over her lips. “I just have a bad feeling, I can’t explain it.”

“Gas.” Cameron hums.

Just like that, the heavy moment becomes light again as Penelope grabs the closest object to her and launches it at Cameron’s face.

-

“Morning Jojo,” Penelope chirps the next morning at breakfast. “Sleep good?” 

Josie murmurs some kind of grunt. She’s the last to join the table, a late start to their Saturday morning. She doesn’t remember what time she fell asleep but she imagines it had to have been early into the morning with how long she slept, how exhausted she’d felt and still feels when she woke up this morning. She takes a seat on Penelope’s right, doesn’t even feel bad about the way she shoves Cameron over to make space. Penelope greets her with a soft affectionate laugh and presses a kiss to her temple. She slides her coffee cup in front of Josie like the amazing goddess she is and laughs again when Josie takes a hearty sip and delivers a kiss to her temple this time. 

“Geez. Say excuse me next time.” Cameron mutters with an agitated shift. 

Josie sneers at her around the rim of her mug, “Fuck off.” 

Cameron’s eyes flash, “Fuck did you say to me?” 

“You heard me.” Josie tells her, “Penelope’s my girlfriend not yours. So. Fuck. Off.” 

Cameron’s nostrils flare, the muscles in her shoulders and neck coiling. “What the hell does you shoving me over have to do with Penelope being your girlfriend, you fucking psycho?” 

“Hey!” Penelope cuts in, “Cut it out guys.” 

“Yeah,” Reyna chimes in as well, her hand wrapping around Cameron’s shoulder to pull her backwards some. All it does is make Cameron’s body angle weirdly into her chest even though she’s sat at a benched table. “Stop being so grumpy.” 

“I’m not being grumpy! Josie’s being an asshole!” 

“Enough.” Reyna says firmly. 

Josie sips at the coffee in her mug and turns her back to Cameron. 

“You should apologize.” Penelope whispers quietly to just Josie. 

“She should apologize to me.” Josie says snidely. 

She ignores Penelope’s disapproving gaze. It’s a bitter sting because of course Penelope is somehow siding with Cameron even when all Josie did was dare to sit down next to her own girlfriend. It’s not like Cameron’s territorial wolf instincts were her problem. Penelope only sighs and Josie starts to wish she never sat down at this table in the first place. She finishes the rest of Penelope’s coffee and slams the mug back down on the table with a rattle that startles everyone out of their conversations. 

“Thanks for the coffee.” Josie says with a sneer and then flips the hood of her sweater over her head and disappears into the crowd of students entering and exiting the cafeteria. 

-

Josie’s at her locker when her sister slinks up to her, “What do you want?”

Lizzie rolls her eyes just as quickly, “What? Can’t say hi to my twin sister?” 

Josie flattens her face into neutrality. Hell would probably freeze over twice before Lizzie ever did something involving her that wasn’t somehow to Lizzie’s own benefit. Before it hadn’t been so bad, so blatant, she could even pretend that they were just spending sisterly time together. Ever since she’d gotten back together with Penelope however, she’d seen neither hide nor hair of Lizzie and it’d become clear that since Lizzie had nothing to gain, Josie’s presence was not required.

Lizzie huffs after a moment of Josie just staring at her, “Dad wants to have dinner with us tonight at eight.”

Josie hikes her bookback further up her shoulder, “What? Like, just the three of us?” 

“Yep.” Lizzie looks about uncomfortable with the idea as Josie imagines she would be. “I already asked.” 

“Of course you did.” Josie smiles falsely, her sister’s words hit her harder than she wished they would. It seemed like no one really wanted to spend time with Josie these days. It was almost to be expected at this point. “Whatever, I’ll be there.” 

She shuts her locker door with a little more force than necessary but Lizzie doesn’t even flinch, just stares at her with an intense frown. 

“Did you need something else or?” Josie raises an eyebrow at her silence. 

Lizzie shakes herself out of whatever stupor she was in. “No. Don’t be late.” 

She shoulders past Josie and makes her way down the hall without a backward glance. 

“I’m never late.” Josie grumbles. She allows herself one last glance before ultimately shaking her head and moving onto her next class. The isolation and dismissal she was routinely met with was almost comforting.

-

“Can you please just let this go?”

“No! You ruined dinner!” Lizzie yells as she follows her sister into her dorm. “Why would you even ask dad about something like that? Did you see his face?”

“Yes. I did. It’s exactly why I asked.” Josie replies as she sheds her blazer. “Lizzie, he’s hiding this from us. He’s trying to keep us safe, but really it just puts us in more danger.”

“The merge is a story, Josie. It’s a story that people told us to scare us, it was a way to taunt us when we were kids.” Lizzie argues. “You didn’t have to accuse dad of trying to hide something like that from us.”

“He is, Lizzie!”

“No, he’s not!”

“He is!”

“He isn’t!”

“Pick number three, my Lord!”

Lizzie and Josie turn in surprise to find the pack spread through the dorm room in various positions. Hope looks between them in wonder while Penelope sits up from where her head was in her lap, her mouth twisted down into a frown. At the sight of their audience, the twins trade quick glances as if to ask the other what they should do; it’s clear their argument is far from over, and they couldn’t care less who hears it. With a growl, Lizzie stomps her foot and watches as her sister rolls her eyes and turns to throw her hair into a messy bun.

“What’s going on?” Isabella asks slowly.

“Nothing.” Josie snaps.

Lizzie gaps in annoyance, “ _Nothing?_ No. Not nothing. Josie ruined dinner with our dad because she was being a brat.”

“Highly doubtful.” Penelope scoffs as she attempts to catch Josie’s gaze. “Babe, what happened at dinner?”

“I just...I brought up the merge.” Josie shrugs with a disgruntled scowl. “I tried to ask him about it, ask him about some stuff that I read over the summer, and he completely shut me down. Like he always does.”

“Merge?” Cameron jumps in.

“What’s that?” Reyna adds in.

“It’s a story!” Lizzie exclaims.

“It’s not.” Josie huffs. “It’s a tradition in every Gemini Coven, it’s when only one twin can lead their coven. On the dawn of our twenty second birthday, we have to participate in something called the merge.”

Reyna tilts her head, “Explain.”

“Lizzie and I will have to perform a ritual where our powers battle.” Josie sighs. “Nine times out of ten, the twins will pass out and whoever wakes up is the winner. The loser, the ones powers are weaker, dies.”

“What the fuck?” Sofiá laughs, the sound nervous and terrified. “Why would someone make up a story like that?”

“It’s not a story. Kai, our uncle, was a victor. He ruled over his coven.” Josie mumbles as she begins to pace. “Our mom slipped up over the summer and mentioned it, just a passing comment, and I’ve been looking into it ever since. It’s _real._ ”

Penelope shakes her head, “You never told me.”

“I didn’t want to worry you.” Josie whispers as she finally locks eyes with her girlfriend. “I know how you get, and I didn’t want to freak you out without having concrete evidence.”

“Which you do? Now?” Cameron drawls.

Josie shrugs weakly, “Sort of. It’s been a lot of research and digging up old files. I’ve tried to hunt down my uncle, but my dad won’t talk about him and he…”

“So, wait…” Cameron orders as she holds up a calming hand. “You found out about this merge months ago and you didn’t say anything? Why? We should’ve known.”

Josie frowns, “It’s none of your business.”

“It is when you’re a part of my pack.” Cameron scoffs. “Your life could be in danger, _Lizzie’s_ life could be in danger. Actually, it _is_ in danger. You should’ve told us.”

“Why does Lizzie matter?” Josie demands.

Lizzie arches an eyebrow, “Thanks.”

“Low blow.” Sofiá chuckles.

“No. Not a low blow. A comment that was completely unnecessary.” Hope scolds as she flashes a glance to Josie. “And you asked Alaric about this tonight?”

“Yes. She grilled him for the entire dinner, and refused to shut up about it during dessert. He finally just sent us back to our rooms.” Lizzie huffs. “He swears that our mom has it under control, that she has a plan.”

“And it’s a lie.” Josie drawls.

Lizzie flashes her a look, “Says _you_. Why would dad lie about something like this? He would never let our lives be at risk, and neither would mom. We’re their children!”

“And one of us isn’t exactly mentally stable enough to handle something like the idea of _dying_ over power!”

The room goes silent at Josie’s outburst, and Hope snarls in response as she shoots up from her spot beside Penelope. Across the room, Cameron simply rises to her feet and meets Hope’s gaze with a silent challenge; she knows that Hope won’t bow to her, she knows that Hope’s wolf won’t even attempt to submit but this is just a silent order to wait. It’s a silent plea to keep this as calm as possible. Finally, Hope seems to gather her emotions as she gives a slow nod and folds her fingers into fists as her eyes dart across the room to take in the apologetic expression on Josie’s face.

“Lizzie, I am _so_ sorry.” Josie whispers. “I didn’t mean that, you know I didn’t. I would never try to use your bipolar disorder as a...a _reason_ for dad not telling us things.”

Lizzie shrugs, “You’re probably right.”

“No. She’s not.” Hope jumps in, her tone final as she looks to Josie. “You have no right to use that against her, and I don’t care that you apparently didn’t mean it.”

“Hope, I didn’t. I swear. I just…”

“You just what? Couldn’t help yourself?”

“Back off.” Penelope orders as she stands and presses a hand to Hope’s shoulder. “Tension is running way too high right now, we shouldn’t be having this discussion.”

Cameron nods slowly and folds her arms over her chest, “She’s right. This conversation is shelved for the night. But it does need to be discussed, we need to figure this out.”

“It has nothing to…”

“I’m making it our business.” Cameron growls. “If you want to figure this out then you can’t do it on your own. And if you don’t want our help then you can just pretend we’re only helping Lizzie. Either way, we’re involved.”

Penelope rubs tiredly at her forehead, “Can we all just call it a night and just split up? You’re giving me a headache.”

“That’s fine.” Cameron grumbles as she reaches down to grab her textbook. “I’m crashing with Reyna tonight.”

“Which means I’ll be with you, babe.” Isabella smiles as she pulls on her jacket. “And don’t get any funny ideas, I’m exhausted.”

“Boo.” Sofiá pouts.

“Penelope, are you staying?” Josie whispers.

“Of course, babe.” Penelope nods before she stabs a thumb towards Sofiá. “I don’t want to listen to her whine the entire night about Isabella not giving it up.”

“Try not to miss me, Penball.” Sofiá chirps.

“It’s one night, you psycho.” Penelope snorts.

Sofiá allows Isabella to lead her away as she smirks back at her roommate, “They say distance makes the heart grow fonder!”

“Ridiculous bitch.” Cameron chuckles as she ruffles Penelope’s hair. “I’ll swing by in the morning to change and steal you for a run, alright? Sleep good.”

“You too.” Penelope grins.

Reyna drops a quick kiss to Penelope’s head and flashes her a wink, “Remember that we have a test tomorrow, try to get some sleep.”

“Says _you_.”

“Touché, little witch.” Reyna purrs as she trails Cameron from the dorm.

“Come on, Lizzie,” Hope smiles as she gathers her stuff and nods towards the door. “I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

Lizzie shyly grins, “Thank you.”

“It feels a little like watching them all leave for war sometimes.” Penelope grumbles as the door closes behind Hope and Lizzie. “It’s not like we see each other every day or anything.”

“I happen to like the fact that I get to see your beautiful face every day.” Josie hums as she crosses the room. “In fact, it’s not a good day unless I wake up to it.”

Penelope laughs softly as she curls her arms around Josie to pull her close, “I’m sorry dinner with your dad sucked.”

“Mm, I don’t want to talk about that. You heard Cameron, it’s shelved for the night.” Josie murmurs as she nudges their noses together. “I need to shower.”

“What a coincidence, I too need a shower. We should save the planet and share one.” Penelope beams, and her nose scrunches as lips settle against it. “Is that a yes?”

“Of course it is.” Josie replies. “Lead the way.”

-

“Stop thinking about it.” Hope says mildly as they walk the mostly silent halls back to Lizzie’s dorm room. Students trickle out here and there, most fresh from showers but everyone in pajamas as the night draws to a close. 

Lizzie’s face sours, “She’s such a bitch.” 

“I agree,” Hope says, “It was a mean thing to say but you know it’s not true so there’s no sense in worrying about it.” 

For a moment, and only because it’s Hope, Lizzie’s face falls. “But what if she is right? What if our parents are purposely not telling me because they don’t want me to react?” 

Hope stops them both with a tug to Lizzie’s forearm. “Hey, stop it.” She says firmly. Her impassioned speech about Lizzie’s mental health dies a little at the miserable pout on Lizzie’s face. “Do you want me to give him a truth serum or something? Want me to hex your sister during football practice? What do you want me to do?” 

Lizzie’s pout breaks, falls into that trademark smirk Hope is coming to be so fond of. 

“No,” She sighs ultimately, with a fond roll of her eyes. “It would just make the pack mad and no one wants to deal with a bunch of overprotective wolves.”

Hope stares at her flatly, “I could take all of them with one hand tied behind my back.”

Lizzie laughs at this, though Hope is not joking, “I’m sure you could.” She says, half patronizing as she bops Hope on the nose. “Seriously though. It’s fine. I’ll get over it.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Lizzie nods slowly, the smirk falling away again, “I don’t want to know the truth. Ignorance is bliss right?” 

“Right,” Hope agrees. 

The disheartened look on Lizzie’s face makes her chest burn. She laces their fingers this time, hopes the touch will at least take away some of the running thoughts in Lizzie’s head, and continues to walk them back to Lizzie’s dorm. The rest of the walk is silent. 

“Thank you,” Lizzie says when they reach the door, “For walking me.”

Hope smiles, “You’re welcome.” 

There’s a beat of awkward staring where Lizzie looks like she wants to say more but ultimately decides against it. 

“Well. Goodnight.” Lizzie says abruptly. She opens up her dorm door and offers one last timid smile before shutting it again. 

Hope stands there for a second in quiet contemplation. Just because Lizzie didn’t want to know the truth doesn’t mean Hope doesn’t have to know it either. She heads back to her own dorm silently and even though it’s late she still sends a text to her aunt to schedule a visit. Because if there was anyone who knew about the Gemini merge, who better than the oldest witch alive?

-

“I’m bored.” Cameron whines from her spot on Penelope’s bed. 

She’d been tossing her phone up in the air to catch in an attempt to entertain herself while Penelope finished up some homework but she’d stopped after it’d fallen on her face and nearly cracked her glasses. 

“So you’ve said.” Penelope answers flatly, “Multiple times in fact.” 

“And yet you still haven’t entertained me.” 

Penelope snorts, “I’m busy. Go hump on your girlfriend.” 

Cameron sighs, “I tried. She’s in tutoring.” 

“Wow. I feel so loved.” 

“You should,” Cameron chirps, “I thought you finished with your homework already?” 

Penelope’s hesitation must be enough of an inkling because the next thing she knows Cameron is at her side peering down at her books. She scrambles to cover certain paragraphs that she has hightlighted and wishes she has waited to go over this when her nosey best friend wasn’t standing faithfully at her side.

“Fuck off,” She says immediately, dropping her arms onto her books to hide them from curious brown eyes.

Cameron stares at her like she’s grown three heads before a wide grin takes over her face. “Is it a love letter?” She asks, her hands pushing at Penelope’s arms. 

Penelope doesn’t budge, “Fuck. Off.” 

Cameron’s grin goes mischievous. She kicks Penelope’s rolling chair at the base, sending Penelope careening sideways. It’s enough of a displacement for Penelope to accidentally swipe her books and papers onto the ground. Cameron is quick to scoop them up, Latin words stare up at her and symbols are circled here and there. It takes her a moment to realize what she’s looking at, and she immediately feels a sense of annoyance melt over her as she sees Penelope frantically gathering abandoned papers.

Her smile melts into a frown rather quickly, “What the hell is this?” 

Penelope gets up from her chair huffly and snatches the paper from Cameron’s hand, “I told you to fuck off.” 

“Why are you doing research on the merge?” Cameron demands. 

“Because Josie is clearly worried about it!” 

Cameron merely blinks at her, “I thought we’d decided it was under control by the headmaster.” 

Penelope sighs, straightens out the piece of paper where it’d gotten a little manhandled in Cameron’s strong grip. They had made the decision to take their questions to Alaric, but he had been quick to shut them down and assure them everything was under control. Penelope hadn’t liked his answers though, she hadn’t been fond of the way he brushed her off and ignored Josie’s own demands. Something was off about the entire thing and it was clear to Penelope that her girlfriend was losing sleep over the merge questions that went unanswered.

Penelope shrugs, “I know but still. I thought if I could present more information to her she would relax.” 

“Neither one of you should be worrying about this.” Cameron tells her gently, “Even if it was real and a threat, the prophecy said twenty two right? The twins are only coming up on their eighteenth birthday. We have four whole years.”

Penelope merely frowns, “I don’t know, I just get a bad feeling about it all.” 

Cameron grabs her shoulder and offers up her best comforting smile, “I got your back regardless. Everything’s going to be fine. You just focus on being a teenager and we’ll all do the same. Let’s just leave it to the adults, that’s what they’re there for, right?” 

And even though Penelope nods her head, a part of her feels like it’s a mistake. 

-

“This is a terrible idea.”

“Agreed.”

“It really is.” Penelope snorts as she jumps up onto the counter. “Why the hell are we spending our Saturday night doing this?”

“Because we can, now sit back and enjoy the show.” Cameron replies as she fixes the cloth tied delicately around her neck. “I’m literally about to show these guys why, once again, I am better than both of them combined.”

“Babe, you don’t need to challenge them to a pie eating contest to do that.” Reyna scoffs. “If you forgot, you have the stomach of a college man who just finished football practice.”

“I got this in the bag.” Sofiá scoffs.

Isabella rolls her eyes, “She’s an _alpha_ , love.”

“So, you don’t have faith in me?” Sofiá pouts.

“Of course I do.” Isabella sighs.

“Don’t listen to them, you’re going to cream them both.” Lizzie smirks. “Just remember what I told you your reward is if you win…”

Hope tenses slightly, “Yeah, I’m gonna win.”

“What the fuck does _that_ mean?” Sofiá demands as she looks between them. “You literally said you two weren’t…”

“I’m giving her my AirPods if she wins.” Lizzie cuts in with a shake of her head. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Sofiá sulks, “Lame.”

“Room for one more?”

Penelope looks up with wide eyes, “No.”

“I like pie. And you texted me what you were doing so I took it as an invitation.” Josie shrugs as she grabs one from the pile and plops on the barstool beside Cameron. “What does the winner get?”

“Bragging rights.” Cameron chirps.

Sofiá shakes her head, “Sex...or AirPods.”

“Well, I think I’d enjoy both of my winnings. Especially the second one.” Josie hums. “How many of these things do we have to eat?”

“Well, the store would only let me buy sixty three so fifteen each.” Isabella replies. “But because Sofiá and Cam both have out of this world metabolism, you’ll be going against Hope.”

Josie barks out a laugh, “I so got this.”

“She’s a wolf.” Lizzie points out.

“Who absolutely hates pie.” Josie chuckles as she licks whip cream off her thumb. “So, like I said, I totally got this.”

Penelope slides off the counter to move and press a kiss to Josie’s head, “Do you? No one will judge you if you decide to back out.”

“I’ll judge her.” Sofiá calls.

Cameron pops her head up, “You got this, Jo!”

Penelope watches with her lower lip caught between her teeth as Reyna yells for them to start. She hates to admit it, but a sense of pride swells through her as she watches Josie go through the first four pies with barely a blink of an eye. It isn’t till her ninth one that Penelope can see her lagging, can see the sudden green tint on her face. Beside her, Cameron is licking her fingers as she finishes her last pie while Sofiá falls face first into hers. Finally, Hope admits defeat as she drops her fork and leans back in her chair with a groan.

“Oh come on!” Lizzie groans.

Hope shakes her head, “No more.”

“That means I win.” Josie mumbles through a mouthful of apple pie. “Better luck next time, Hope. Well, there actually won’t be a next time because this was a _terrible_ idea.”

Penelope smiles as she reaches out to thumb away a smear of blueberry from Josie’s chin, “I tried to tell you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I’ve missed you guys. And this sounded like fun.” Josie sighs as a pained expression flashes across her face. “Do I still win if I vomit?”

“You guys are wimps.” Cameron scoffs as she reaches for one of Josie’s extra pies. “I assume you’re not gonna finish this?”

“Nope.” Josie replies, and she suddenly stands and slams her leftover pie into Hope’s face. “Not gonna finish this one either.”

Hope sputters in shock, “What the hell, Josie?”

Lizzie huffs as she picks up a pie and turns her wrist towards a cackling Penelope, “Hey, you can’t just come at her like that!”

“It’d probably be best if you didn’t come after my girlfriend, Lizzie.” Josie warns, and she is quick to grab her own pan of pie. “How about we call a truce and put the pies down?”

“Nah. She had a good idea.” Sofiá chirps as she grabs a cherry pie and turns to mash it into Reyna’s face.

“Hey! I was going to eat that!” Cameron whines.

“ _Babe_!” Reyna hisses as she attempts to wipe the pie off her face. “She literally just slammed a pie into my face!”

Cameron chews quickly, “Oh. Yeah. Don’t do that.”

“Yeah, baby,” Isabella pouts as she moves behind Cameron and lifts a pie to smear into her face. “You really shouldn’t do that.”

“Okay. That’s it.” Cameron growls.

Just like that, the kitchen is suddenly full of pies going left and right as squeals echo against the walls. Penelope slips in a pile of crust and crashes into Josie’s chest, and her girlfriend laughs as she steadies her and presses a sugar laced kiss to her lips. Josie pulls away and clears away a smear of lemon from Penelope’s cheek as she stares into her bright, amused eyes; this feels right, it feels like home. It feels nice to laugh, to feel included. Penelope smiles at her once more and brings their mouths together for a lingering kiss that is broken apart as someone grabs Josie from behind.

“Hey!” Penelope whines. “Give her back!”

Josie laughs till she can’t breathe and for a little bit she forgets about the candles and spells that are tucked away in a locked safe in her dorm. She forgets about the truth she is desperately searching for. She forgets. And then she remembers. Oh, how she remembers. She remembers as she is suddenly forgotten while the pack turns on Penelope and take turns basically tossing her around like a ball while she struggles and giggles. As Josie leans against the counter and watches, feels ignored, she readies herself for what she’s about to do.

“Josie, help me!” Lizzie calls.

But for now? For now, she’ll focus on this. If this is the last bout of happiness she’ll get until her spell ends, then she’s going to enjoy it.

-

It’s well past midnight and Josie is still awake. She’d been unable to actually fall asleep and so she’d decided to study for her upcoming tests when the doorknob to her and Cameron’s dorm room starts to twist. She catches the movement out of the corner of her eye, heart dropping into her stomach as the latch clicked and the door started to open. She gets her hands ready to attack whatever was about to cross the threshold of the door. 

It isn’t until she sees the familiar tattoo on Reyna’s arm that she calms back down. Reyna enters slowly, keeps her back to the room as she focuses all her efforts on shutting the dorm door without it letting out any noise. She nearly jumps a foot in the air when she turns around and sees Josie already staring at her. 

“What the fuck?” Reyna hisses, her hand coming up to her chest in freight. “Why didn’t you say something?” 

Josie raises an eyebrow, “This is my room.” 

Reyna smiles sheepishly at that, “Right, duh, sorry I just thought you’d both be asleep.” 

Josie shrugs and picks back up her book. “Cam’s been asleep for hours but I couldn’t fall asleep.” 

Cameron had fallen asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow. She’d been face down for quite some time and normally Josie would have been a little worried but even with her mouth muffled, Josie could still hear her snores. She’d spent an hour staring at her bitterly when she’d first fallen asleep, jealous of how easy it was to rest when she knew she had Penelope’s love and a pack that’d die for her.

“I know she stopped texting me back awhile ago.” Reyna says quietly, stepping further into the room. She’s still in pajamas and slippers, a set Penelope had gotten her for secret santa a while ago that Reyna had unironically loved. It’s just another reminder of how much Penelope meant to her.

“What's up?” Josie asks around a slightly worried frown. She hates how much a part of her still cares. Even if she knew Reyna would choose Penelope over her, or anyone in the pack for that matter, in a heartbeat she still couldn’t deny the fact that she’d grown a tad bit fond of them all when they weren’t being annoying.

Reyna’s eyes are skittish, “Bad dream.” She says after a beat, a little bit too curt, “I was just gunna sleep next to Camz. It usually helps.” She keeps walking further into the room and gracefully climbs onto Cameron’s bed. 

Cameron barely flinches and Reyna muscles way under the covers and curls her arm over Cameron’s back. It’s intimate somehow and after a few minutes it’s like Cameron’s body senses her there and shifts to shield her. Josie wishes Penelope was with her to put her own mind and insecurities at ease but all she had was her homework and textbooks and she would just have to make due. 

-

“She thought she was so _tough!_ ”

“Aw, don’t do that to her. Look at her little face!”

Penelope narrows her eyes, “I was trying to defend Josie! Don’t act like you didn’t shed a few tears when I left.”

“Maybe one or two.” Lizzie admits, and her eyes roll as the pack begins to laugh. “Yeah, yeah. Just laugh it up. It’s so funny.”

“It’s just hilarious how much time you two have wasted hating each other.” Reyna drawls. “You could’ve been the baddest witches in this place, but instead you were fighting.”

Lizzie arches an eyebrow in agreement, “I’d like to think we’ve changed our ways. I mean, I’m actually sitting here with you freaks instead of doing more important things.”

“Excuse me?” Cameron scoffs. “You’re pack now. So, if _we_ are freaks then you are too. Better get used to it.”

“Wait.” Lizzie frowns. “I’m _what?_ ”

“You’re pack.” Isabella smiles, and Sofiá is quick to press a kiss to her forehead. “You didn’t see this coming? You’ve been popping up in our hangouts for weeks.”

“I mean...I just thought…” Lizzie trails off as her cheeks color. “I didn’t think you’d want _me_ to be considered pack. Penelope and I don’t have the greatest history.”

“But that’s all it is.” Penelope shrugs. “History.”

“So, you’ve got a checkered past? You’re looking at a group of misfits with the _worst_ checkered past. We don’t judge.” Cameron assures her. “I know who to trust and who deserves a spot in my pack, and you do.”

Lizzie sputters, “Because of Josie? Hope?”

“Josie has nothing to do with it.” Sofiá tosses in with a wave of her hand. “Of course we love the doe eyed human, we’re free to pick our own family. You’re chill, Lizzie. You’re _good_. Are you like ballshit crazy? For sure. But so am I, and so is Reyna.”

Reyna nods, “It’s true.”

“As for Hope…” Penelope rolls her eyes as the pack whistle playfully. “She refuses to acknowledge that she’s pack, she just says that she chills with us out of boredom.”

“But, rest assured, your girlfriend is definitely a part of us.” Cameron smirks.

“She isn’t my _girlfriend_.” Lizzie hisses.

“But you totally want her to be.” Reyna rasps, her tone low and seductive. “You totally want to know about all of her mysteries.”

Cameron blinks owlishly, “I love when you talk like that.”

“I bet Lizzie wants to hear Hope talk like that. All sensual and whatnot.” Penelope chuckles. “I can see it now. They’re going to beat us all out for cutest couple.”

“I’m going to kill you.” Lizzie warns.

“Bring it.”

Across the library, Josie steps from behind a shelf with her nose buried in a book only to stop short as she hears laughter and squeals. With a scowl, Josie presses back against the books and looks around the corner to see Cameron beating Sofiá with a pillow, Reyna sitting on Isabella, and it takes her a moment to realize that Penelope is playfully wrestling with a blonde. Her sister. Josie feels the air leave her lungs as she listens to them laugh and carry on, she almost expects Hope to be a part of it all but it seems like Lizzie has happened upon the pack on her lonesome. With a scowl, Josie pulls her phone free and clicks on her last phone call. She sees Penelope’s abandoned on the table, but she doesn’t see her girlfriend reach for it.

If Penelope would’ve picked up the phone, she would’ve seen Josie’s smiling face beaming back at her. And if she would’ve turned her head, if only for a moment, she would’ve caught sight of her girlfriend slipping into the shadows as her last thread of sanity snapped.


	2. i can't believe i still feed my fucking temptation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small warning...there is a brief moment of slight domestic violence. I would hate for anyone to be triggered by anything we write. Also, small mentions of blood.

Josie wanders down the practice field and ducks her head to avoid anyone catching her attention. She’s trying to blend in, and it isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do when everyone wants to say hi or pretend to be her friend for a few minutes. Finally, she manages to squeeze her way through a brick wall and a fence so she can disappear into the forest. For a moment, she tenses as she hears familiar laughter and she is quick to duck behind a tree as she watches Isabella come crashing into the clearing with Hope and Lizzie at her heels.

“You _cheated_!” Lizzie pants.

Isabella smirks, “You’re just slow.”

A sour feeling develops in Josie’s stomach as she watches the scene; Lizzie looks _comfortable_ , she’s smiling so widely as she accepts Hope’s offered water bottle and guzzles it down. She can’t remember when Lizzie became friends with Isabella, and she definitely doesn’t remember Lizzie saying anything about actually enjoying time with the pack and Hope. She wants to confront them, she wants to pop up and ask why she wasn’t invited along on this afternoon adventure they were partaking in. But she doesn’t. Josie swallows down her jealousy and instead bustles along through the woods.

Finally, she finds her waiting pentagram and breathes out a sigh of relief that it hasn’t been disturbed. She likes to think she’s far enough away from campus that no one will stumble across what she’s been up to. With a sigh, Josie carefully opens the knapsack on her shoulder to pull out the candles she has collected. The flames lick the air as she brings each wick to life and settles her knees into the dirt and salt of the pentagram. This is it. After all her research and preparing, Josie is about to bring to life something she has been waiting for; once she does this, she knows there’s no going back.

“Lord Satan, by your grace, grant me, I pray thee the power to conceive in my mind and to execute that which I desire to do, the end which I would attain by thy help…”

With a hard breath, Josie squeezes her eyes shut as she tries to push through her nerves. She’s never dabbled in dark magic before, never found a need to. But this? This was taking things to a new level. Surrounded by salt and candles, Josie finds herself slipping further into whatever darkness is festering in her. As quick as the nerves come, they go. They slip away because she reminds herself _why_ she’s doing this, she’s doing this to fix her life. She’s doing this so things can go back to normal.

“O Mighty Satan, the one True God who livest and reignest forever and ever. I entreat thee to inspire Veritas to manifest before me that he may give me true and faithful answer, so that I may accomplish my desired end, provided that it is proper to his office.”

The demon Josie calls upon is one that is supposed to inspire truth, give answers to all the questions that have been building for months. Questions that start with what this supposed _merge_ means for her and Lizzie and ends with whether or not Penelope will ever truly choose her over her pack. The pain of the inevitable of it all causes her stomach to twist as she licks her lips and bows her head. She knows there will be consequences to her actions, but she just wants her answers and then she’ll send Veritas on his way. She’ll free herself and whoever is affected from the darkness that she knows he will bring with him.

Josie knows she’s playing a dangerous game, but the loneliness and the ache she feels won’t go away. It won’t soften. She used to think that it would forever be her and Lizzie against the world, but then Penelope came along. Suddenly, her thoughts had changed and it became her and Penelope against the world. Yet that didn’t last long or at least it didn’t seem to be, not since Cameron came along and brought a ragtag bunch of misfits into their world. No, Josie feels like it’s only her left to figure things out; it feels like she has no one in her corner and she just needs to know the _truth_.

Josie swallows nervously, “This I respectfully and humbly ask in Your Name, Lord Satan, may you deem me worthy, Father.”

Nothing.

Not even a whip of wind or crackle of lightning. It’s just silence aside from the usual background noise of the forest. Josie waits, attempts to prepare herself, but nothing happens. The defeat is clear on her face as she realizes she has failed, somehow she screwed this up. _Again._ With a huff, she scrambles to her feet and takes care of the candles before she is quick to grab her backpack and run away from her failure. Like a cliché, Josie fails to notice the claws that begin to descend from the edge of the pentagram; as she disappears, she never hears the cackle of the beginning to her end.

-

_Josie is staring at a wall. It’s blank and white, and it’s making her eyes hurt. The buzz of the light catches her attention and she glances up in time to watch as it flickers and sways. She can’t move, she’s stuck in a wooden chair that creaks with every struggle she gives. Josie clenches her jaw as she looks away from the white and sees something brush through the wall, and suddenly a shadow materializes in front of her and her jaw drops as she watches the demon that seems to grow from it. It isn’t till a sword taps into the ground that she is able to finally pull herself together as she blinks in awe._

_“Veritas?”_

_“In the flesh, my pet.” The voice hisses._

_Josie shakes in her chair, “H-How?”_

_“You summoned me, and I always come when a pet calls.” Veritas purrs as he flashes his yellow teeth that drip black ink like blood. “I’m here to help, as you’ve requested.”_

_“You didn’t come when I summoned you! I waited and nothing happened.” Josie points out with a look of disbelief. “I don’t understand.”_

_“Patience. You lack them.” Veritas sighs, his tone full of boredom. “That’s where our issues begin, no? So eager to figure out what the truth that your precious pack is hiding.”_

_Josie swallows hard, “I need to know.”_

_“And that is why I’m here.” Veritas smirks. “I’m here to make sure that all of the answers you seek are given, and I won’t stop until you know the truth. I serve you, and you host me.”_

_“Host you?”_

_“Oh, darling.” Veritas chuckles as he takes a step forward. “You couldn’t possibly believe that I wouldn’t need a host. I thought you were prepared for this, ready to take care of this supposed problem you have.”_

_Josie sputters, “I don’t understand…”_

_“Foolish child.” Veritas sighs as he tilts his head and looks her over. “Who shall we start with, pet? Who requires the most effort?”_

_“Cameron.”_

_Veritas swells and takes a deep breath in as he stares down at her, “There it is. The anger. That’s good. You’re going to need to hold onto that, or else this is going to hurt.”_

_Josie doesn’t get to question what he means as he presses the tip of his sword to her chest, right over her heart. It feels like her entire world is splitting apart as he thrusts the sword forward. She feels like she’s on fire; her entire body is going up in flames, and she doesn’t know how to stop it. Her heart is racing, pattering heavily against her chest and her body arches painfully off the chair. This is a pain like nothing she has ever experienced before, and she parts her lips to release a scream that seems to get lost in the back of her throat as Veritas pushes the sword into her skin and twists it._

_And then it stops._

_A darkness sinks over her and Josie finds herself tumbling off the chair and crawling desperately away from it as she gasps for air._

The dorm room appears around her and Josie pants as she realizes that it was a dream. Except it can’t be, not if the itch beneath her skin is any indication or the pain in her chest. With heaving breaths, Josie crawls across the dorm to pull herself up by the dresser and she’s quick to reach out with shaking hands to grapple at her mirror as she almost pulls it from the wall. It takes her a moment to make out her own reflection, to take in what is really in front of her. Her eyes are pitch black, not a single bit of herself shines back at her. As she opens her mouth, the ink colored blood pours from her throat and she drops her hands from the mirror to try and wipe it away.

_“Hello, my pet_.”

The voice is loud inside of her head and Josie squeezes her eyes shut in an attempt to get used to it. Her hands clutch at her temples and her body buzzes with whatever is growing beneath her skin. As soon as everything calms down, Josie lifts her head and looks back into the mirror to see that one eye is its normal brown and the other is still pitch black; it takes her a moment to calm herself as she tilts her head and feels her heart flutter with anticipation.

“Hello, Veritas.”

“ _We have work to do. Let’s go visit Cameron.”_

Josie nods, “Let’s go.”

-

_The air is chilly. Cameron hates the cold. The tick of a clock knocks in the back of her head, but she knows she’s outside. She can feel the damp grass beneath her feet and then wind twists along her bare arms. With a frown, she takes a step forward and scowls as she makes out the shapes of a black dressed herd. A funeral. She’s at a fucking funeral. Cameron speeds up her steps as she tries to figure out exactly who is being buried, but it seems like every inch she moves is pointless. She can hear the dry drone of the preacher and she can make out Sofiá, she sees beautiful blue eyes rimmed with red and her normally sleek locks are dull._

_Isabella._

_It has to be Isabella. Cameron feels the twist in her gut, a twist that has the alpha in her whining and cowering. Finally, she reaches the people surrounding a casket and she falters as she sees Isabella standing alongside Sofiá. Lizzie is behind her, Hope’s arm around her waist. Cameron feels her chest lock as she frantically searches through the crowd, looks for beautiful green eyes or messy brown locks. Yet she can’t find either. The anxiety increases as Sofiá lifts her head and meets her gaze, and she is met with nothing but cold anger._

_“You.”_

_She can’t hear Sofiá, but she sees her lift her arm and her finger point and then all eyes are on her. But Cameron couldn’t care less, all she cares about is closing the distance until she can peer into the coffin. Reyna stares up at her, her eyes open and her face pale. No makeup, no attempt to make her look like she’s had any life in her at all. The alpha howls inside of her, and it’s like Cameron can almost feel it dying. Her knees grow weak and she almost collapses, but a strong hand catches her shoulder and the grip is almost painful._

_“Look what you did.”_

_Cameron blinks up at Penelope, “What?”_

_“Look what you did.” Penelope repeats, and she finally looks down at Cameron. “You killed her. You killed me. You killed us.”_

_“No!” Cameron sobs as she sees the blood that leaks from the corner of Penelope’s mouth. “No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.”_

_“Oh, but you did.” Penelope hisses as her eyes grow black and her grip tightens. “You did kill us and now you’re here, and you have to face what you’ve done.”_

_“I-I don’t understand…”_

_Penelope smiles and Cameron winces as the blood leaks down her chin, stains the white dress she is wearing. Cameron gasps as Penelope roughly shoves her shoulder and moves to climb into the coffin alongside Reyna, and her body goes stiff as she lays down. Around her, the crowd seems to close around her and it takes her a moment to look down and realize that her bare feet are currently sinking into grass laced with blood. Her entire front is coated in it. As she lifts her head again, she sees everyone continuing to move towards her as they chant something that she can’t hear. She sees a shadow pass between the bodies, but it’s lost as Reyna suddenly sits up and turns to look at her with the same black eyes as Penelope._

_“You’re no alpha.” Reyna whispers. “You’re nothing. You’re a liar. You’re a terrible friend. And you’ll forever be alone. This is your end, Cameron. Accept your fate.”_

_The last thing Cameron feels is another tight grip on her shoulder that pulls her backwards and has her falling into a pit of nothingness._

Cameron sobs as she sits up in bed and feels arms curling around her, but she is quick to fight against them. Her stomach churns as she frantically kicks her sheets off before she is bursting into the bathroom and pressing her knees into the tile as she empties the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Every lurch of her stomach is more painful than the last as she tightens her grasp on the porcelain of the bowl and feels it crack gradually underneath the pressure. She knows someone is behind her, she can feel hands gather her hair and a soft brush along her back as someone tries to calm her down. Yet she can’t focus, she can’t unsee lifeless eyes looking up at her.

“Baby, hey. You’re okay.”

Cameron gags, “R-Reyna?”

“Yeah, love. It’s me.”

“Oh thank God.” Cameron whines as she turns to bury her face into Reyna’s legs. “Thank God you’re here. You’re okay. You’re _here._ Thank God. Thank God.”

Reyna drops down to cup her girlfriend’s face and wipe away her tears, “You’re okay. It was just a dream, baby. You’re okay.”

“No.” Cameron cries as she grapples onto Reyna’s shirt. “It was _real._ My alpha could feel it, Reyna. You were gone.”

“I’m right here.” Reyna assures her as she guides Cameron’s hand to her face. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay. It was just a bad dream, Cam.”

Cameron whimpers out a sob, “You died.”

“I mean, _technically_ I am dead.” Reyna teases, and she tilts her head as Cameron smiles. “How about you brush those canines and come back to bed, huh? I’ll hold you.”

“Don’t leave me.” Cameron pleads.

Reyna stands and helps Cameron stand weakly on her feet, “Would you like me to brush your teeth for you?”

“No.” Cameron breathes out with a small laugh as her eyes continue to water. “I just...I need to be able to see you. _Please.”_

“I’m here.” Reyna hums. “Brush your teeth.”

Cameron doesn’t feel bad at all that she makes Reyna stand behind her and basically cradle her. She doesn’t feel bad when she crawls into bed and wraps herself around her girlfriend. She doesn’t feel bad because she _needs_ this, she needs to feel that Reyna is beside her. Cameron doesn’t sleep that night, too afraid of what awaits her the second her eyes close and her mind slips away. No, she stays up and stares at the wall and wonders where the hell that dream came from and what it could possibly mean.

-

“You okay?” Isabella asks softly.

Cameron blinks tiredly, “Hm?”

“You look exhausted.” Isabella shrugs as she pushes her fries towards Cameron. “You’ve looked exhausted for the last week.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Just been having the weirdest fucking dreams.” Cameron sighs as she rubs at her forehead. “Think you can like give me a potion or some shit so I can sleep for longer than thirty minutes?”

Isabella tilts her head, “Of course.”

“I’d ask Penelope, but she’s so far up Josie’s ass that I’m afraid she’ll need to run it by her queen before helping me.” Cameron grumbles, and her expression falls. “That was fucked up.”

“A little.” Isabella chuckles.

“Hey, loser. And my beauty.” Sofiá chirps as she drops a kiss to Isabella’s head. “Where is everyone?”

“Reyna is with her tutor.” Cameron yawns.

Sofiá frowns, “You good?”

“Yeah. Just fucking exhausted.” Cameron shrugs, and winces at the movement. “You ever have a dream where you get the shit beat out of you and somehow wake up sore?”

“Uh. No.” Isabella laughs. “Can’t say I have.”

“Was it me beating your ass? Because if it was, I completely understand why you woke up so sore. I’m a badass in and out of dream world.” Sofiá smirks as she pops a chip into her mouth.

“No. It was...it was actually Josie.” Cameron scoffs as she rolls her shoulder. “We were fighting over Penelope, and she threw me into a wall. It was insane.”

“Sounds like reality to me.” Sofiá snorts, and she startles as Isabella elbows her. “Oh, come on! It’s true. Those two would go to war over Penelope and the entire school knows it.”

Cameron rolls her eyes, “I don’t have to fight over Penelope. She’s my best friend, I know my boundaries.”

“You can’t deny that Josie is a tad bit insecure about it though.” Isabella whispers. “You see how she acts whenever the two of you are together, it bothers her.”

“That explains the third degree she’s been giving me over the last few days.” Cameron snarls. “If she has a question, then she needs to open her mouth and fucking ask it.”

“Damn.” Sofiá chuckles. “You are tired.”

“I really am.” Cameron whines.

Isabella pats her head sympathetically, “Why don’t we head to the lab and I’ll whip something up for you?”

“I’m not done eating.” Sofiá points out.

“We didn’t invite you.” Isabella whispers into her ear, and giggles as Sofiá pinches her side in retaliation. “Enjoy lunch. I’m sure Penelope will be here soon.”

Sofiá pouts, “Fine. Feel better, Cam.”

Cameron waves tiredly, “Mm.”

-

Penelope rubs tiredly at her eyes and shakes her head as she watches Lizzie glare at the potion solution before her. They have been going over the same problem for the last twenty minutes, and she’s growing tired of watching it explode over and over in their faces. She knows that Lizzie is embarrassed to admit that she even needs a tutor, but she’s missing out on spending time with her friends and girlfriend; she at least wants to get this one right before she abandons Lizzie and leaves her to fend for herself. After all, she pack now and they help each other until the bitter end.

“Do it again.” Penelope orders. “You need to balance the mandrake root with the pigs feet, if you don’t then there’s going to be a greasy layer. The greasy layer is what’s causing it not to mix and that leads to an explosion.”

Lizzie huffs, “You don’t think I realize that? I don’t see why we’re using pigs feet, it’s disgusting. It’s vile. When will I ever need this?”

“You never know, blondie.” Penelope drawls as she leans back in her chair. “Try just a sprinkle less of the mandrake root.”

“Fine. But I really don’t care about this.” Lizzie grumbles as she sorts the ingredients. “If I fail, I fail. Potions has never been my strong suit, I’m not exactly Harry Potter.”

“You’re not failing. I won’t let that happen, I told you that.” Penelope reminds her. “I promised you a B, and I stick to my promises.”

Lizzie flexes her jaw, “I don’t want to do this. It’s practically pointless, Penelope. I’m never going to figure this solution out without somehow blowing it up. That’s what I do best anyway, blow everything up.”

“Hey, chill.” Penelope soothes as she sits up to look Lizzie over. “You don’t blow everything up, you just have your moments. And that’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“I just don’t understand why this is so hard for me! I’m supposed to be smart.” Lizzie whispers with a shake of her head. “I’m supposed to be just as good as Josie.”

“You’re two different people, Lizzie.” Penelope points out. “You don’t have to be _exactly_ alike, okay? That’s not how this works.”

“I just...I want to know why it’s always her. Why her?” Lizzie whimpers. “Why does everyone choose her?”

Penelope arches an eyebrow, “Are you trying to tell me I have competition?”

“No.” Lizzie sighs as a small smile slides across her face. “Of course not. I just mean...look, before you Josie and Hope might’ve had a thing for each other.”

“What?” Penelope laughs. “No way.”

“Yeah.” Lizzie nods as her smile falls. “They were so close when we were younger, and it just kinda happened. I tried so hard to figure out _why_ but I couldn’t. I couldn’t understand what Josie had that I didn’t.”

Penelope blinks in shock, “Wow. I didn’t...I never knew.”

“Yeah. It fizzled out the moment you came parading in, it was like it never existed.” Lizzie snorts. “You’ve had Josie since the moment you smiled and introduced yourself.”

“Huh.” Penelope nods, and the gears slowly turn in her head. “You know, you don’t have to be perfect in everything just to impress her.”

“I’m not trying to impress Josie…”

“I’m not talking about your sister.” Penelope chuckles as she eyes Lizzie. “I’m talking about the girl that you’ve apparently been pining over since you were kids.”

“I’m not trying to impress her either!”

“Lizzie, don’t insult my intelligence.” Penelope scolds with a slight pout. “You and I both know that you have a thing for Hope. It’s obvious. Everyone may tease you about it, but I can see that it actually means something to you.”

“It wouldn’t matter.” Lizzie grumbles as she crushes the mandrake. “It’s not like I’d ever stand a chance with her.”

“Are you blind?” Penelope demands. “That girl is _crazy_ about you! She has been all year. You really turned over a leaf after everything that happened with MG.”

Lizzie flinches, “It was a wakeup call.”

“Exactly. You changed, Lizzie. I mean, look at us. We’re actually cordial, we study together. We have lunch together. We _hang out_.” Penelope points out. “We’re not at each other’s throats because we’ve both realized how short life can be, how quickly things can change.”

“Yeah.” Lizzie hums. “You’re right.”

“I know you’re not ready right now, but you will be.” Penelope assures her. “It might not be tomorrow or next week, but you’re going to be ready to acknowledge your feelings and it’s going to be amazing.”

Lizzie blushes as she sprinkles the mandrake into the cauldron, “I’m going to need you to take it down a notch, Dr. Phil.”

“Whatever.” Penelope laughs as she folds her arms over her chest. “It’s going to happen, and I’m going to be watching like a proud mama bear on the sidelines.”

Lizzie rolls her eyes and drops the pig foot into the purple solution, “Holy shit! It didn’t explode! I did it! Penelope, I did it!”

“See. Already got me over here looking like a proud mama bear.” Penelope smirks. “All it takes is time and patience, young grasshopper.”

“I will pour this on you.” Lizzie drawls. “Now, help me figure out this next one and I promise I’ll buy your lunch and coffee.”

“You got yourself a deal, Saltzman.”

-

“It’s not working.” Josie snaps.

Veritas smiles from the mirror, “ _Give it time._ ”

“She’s tired. That’s it.” Josie scowls as she paces through the bathroom. “I’ve tried to ask her questions, but she brushes me off. All she needs is a nap and she’ll be fine.”

“ _Like I said, no patience._ ”

Josie stops pacing and frowns, “I just...I just want to know if there’s anything going on between her and Penelope.”

“ _We’ll find out, all in due time._ ”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Josie sighs.

“ _Do you doubt me?_ ”

“What?” Josie gasps as a pain rocks through her entire body, and her knees grow weak. “Wh-What are you doing to me?”

“ _You are my host, and I expect to be treated with respect. You do not question my methods. You’re a mere human, worthless. You don’t know how this works._ ”

“I’m s-sorry.” Josie slurs as she sinks to her knees. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to qu-question you, okay? I’m sorry.”

“ _On your feet._ ”

Josie struggles up the wall, “I’m sorry.”

“ _Your apologies are meaningless to me. Do as I ask and I will help you, question me and fight me then I will destroy you. I will destroy you and everything you love._ ”

“Okay.” Josie whispers with a weak nod.

“ _Continue on with your day, I think you’ll find that we’ll be making progress soon. Act as you normally do. Understood?_ ”

Josie swallows hard, “Understood.”

-

“And why exactly are hiding this from Reyna?”

Cameron hisses as Penelope presses an ice pack to her shoulder, “Because I don’t know how I got this fucking thing, and you know she’ll just accuse me of fighting.”

“Well, you do enjoy a good spar session with just about anyone. There was no reason for you to grab Luke Walsh by his head and then yell parkour as you threw him.” Penelope chuckles with a shake of her head. “Tossing some poor kid isn’t _parkour_.”

“I got two weeks of detention for that.” Cameron hums, a fond twinkle in her eye. “The little bitch _taunted_ me and when I finally stepped up, he decided I was scary.”

“Once again, you _threw_ him by his _head._ It was quite entertaining listening to his squeals. This is why we’re such terrible friends.” Penelope sighs as she pulls the ice pack away. “Let me apply the paste and you should be good.”

Cameron winces again, “I woke up this morning and it felt like Reyna and I had gone a thousand rounds, and I normally don’t even get tired from _that_. But if she saw my back, she’d be livid. I don’t even know what could cause this.”

“Wolves time was only a few days ago, maybe you tripped.” Penelope suggests as she begins to paint the yellow goo on her back. “Or it could be from when Sofiá jumped on your back from that tree.”

“That was impressive.” Cameron whistles, but it quickly fades to a whimper. “I thought you said this was supposed to make it feel better!”

“While it may be magic, I’m not Freya Mikaelson. My shit is newbie level.” Penelope points out. “It just takes a little bit to soak it all up, it’s a pretty deep set bruise.”

“I swear it looks like Wreck It Ralph punched me. Does it not?” Cameron grumbles.

Penelope tilts her head, “It does look like it came from something heavy handed. Your potassium levels may be low, Cam. You need to start looking into a better diet.”

“Bitch, I had a strawberry poptart instead of cookie dough for breakfast.” Cameron sneers. “ _And_ six bananas and bananas are packed _full_ of potassium, dude.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Penelope sighs as she uses the last of the paste. “Okay. Give that like twenty minutes and it should soak up the bruise, once that’s done you’ll be good as new.”

“Come here, you life saver!” Cameron growls as she quickly grabs Penelope and yanks her into her lap. “Just to be clear, you’re a red lifesaver. Because they’re the best.”

Penelope nuzzles into her, “Thanks, Cam.”

“Well, you’re very welcome.” Cameron laughs. “I don’t think I tell you enough how much I love you, Penball. You really are my partner in crime, my third half.”

“Third half?” Penelope repeats with a smirk.

“Well, you’re like a smidge of my heart. Reyna kinda has the rest of it, it’s the soulmate bond kinda thing.” Cameron explains. “Don’t be offended, you’re still super important.”

“I understand. Relax.” Penelope assures her as she presses a quick kiss to Cameron’s cheek. “I heard this song the other day, kinda reminded me of us.”

“Yeah?”

“If the world was ending you’d come over, right?”

“Why’s it remind you of us?”

“I don’t know, that lyric just kind of popped into my head. Made me think of you.” Penelope shrugs. “As much as I love Josie, and you know how much I really do, but I’d want you with me. If this it, I want you by my side.”

“Fair enough.” Cameron chuckles as she curls Penelope in her arms. “And, just so you know, I’d only want you there too.”

“What are you doing?”

Penelope twists in Cameron’s arms to see Josie standing in the doorway, “I was helping this bonehead ice her booboos.”

“I didn’t realize health taught you that you needed to follow it with giving her hugs.” Josie snaps as she looks to her watch. “We’re supposed to be studying.”

“I texted you.” Penelope shrugs as she untangles herself from Cameron. “I told you I was going to be a little late, I wanted to make sure the paste absorbed the bruises.”

“She’s fine.” Josie shrugs as she looks Cameron over and sees them both stand.

“Well, damn. I know you feel like I’m gonna steal your girl, Jo,” Cameron teases as she drops a heavy arm over Penelope’s shoulders. “But I’m like _really_ in love with someone else so I promise I won’t.”

Josie flexes her jaw, “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop making jokes about her like that, I’d appreciate it if the entire pack started _respecting_ the fact that Penelope and I are together.”

“What?” Cameron laughs. “We do!”

“Making constant innuendos, joking about stealing her away from me, Sofiá reminding me _every day_ that she’s seen her naked? Not exactly my version of respect.” Josie scoffs. “It’s not that hard to just...not.”

“Look, Sofiá is an ass. You can’t expect her to not make a comment here and there, you’ve heard some of the things she says about Reyna but she doesn’t mean it.” Cameron assures her with a roll of her eyes. “She’s stuck so far up Isa’s ass that…”

“Always excuses with you. _Always_.” Josie scolds with a shake of her head. “Let’s go, Penelope. We have a lot of stuff to cover.”

Penelope looks between them wearily, “I’ll text you in a little bit and we can meet up so I can take a look at your shoulder.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said she’s going to meet up with us in a little bit so I can look at the paste.” Penelope whispers, and Cameron looks between them with heat in her dark eyes.

Josie crosses the room while Cameron takes a small step back just as long fingers twist around Penelope’s wrist, “Why?”

“Hey, babe,” Penelope hisses as she attempts to pull her wrist free. “You know I love a bit of aggression, but you’re _hurting_ me.”

Josie simply tightens her hold, “You said we were studying tonight. You said that it was just going to be us, not us and the rest of your pack. Why do you keep _lying?_ ”

“Jojo.” Penelope begins, her tone tinted with a hint of fear. “It is going to be just us, I’m just finishing up with Cameron here and then we’re heading to the library.”

Cameron clears the throat, “Let her go.”

“Don’t tell me how to handle my girlfriend.” Josie snarls, and the sound is so deep and angry that even Cameron flinches. “I’m tired of you trying to control our relationship.”

“Look, Saltzman. I don’t know if you like ingested a pound of crack this morning, but you’re not acting like yourself.” Cameron drawls as she seems to grow in height. “I won’t ask you again. _Let her go.”_

The next thirty seconds seem to be a blur in Penelope’s eyes because one minute she’s in Josie’s hold and the next her girlfriend is on the floor and she’s firmly trapped behind Cameron. Her first instinct is to reach for Josie, but the snap of Cameron’s jaw has her retracting her hand immediately and instead curling it into the soft material of her best friend’s sweater. At their feet, Josie gives a laugh that sends chills down their spines as she hauls herself to her feet and smooths down her uniform; it’s like nothing happened, like she and Cameron hadn’t just had their own little playground shoving war.

“Penelope…”

“You can fuck off.” Cameron hisses as she glares down at Josie. “I don’t know if you’re just angry at the world, but my best friend isn’t getting caught up in that bullshit.”

Josie blinks rapidly, “I’m sorry. I just…”

“I don’t give a fuck. She’s not going anywhere with you.” Cameron declares. “Oh, and don’t think this is me trying to steal your girl. This is me trying to keep my best friend safe.”

“Penelope, I’m sorry. _Please_.”

“I’ll text you later, Jojo.” Penelope whispers against Cameron’s shoulder. “Maybe we just need a night apart.”

“Oh.” Josie frowns, and it’s almost pathetic the way she fumbles for her bag. “Okay. I’ll...I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” Cameron snaps.

“Cam. Stop.” Penelope scolds, and she feels her friend immediately settle. “We’ll see you tomorrow, go get some rest.”

“Okay.”

“What the _fuck_?” Cameron demands as Josie sulks from the room. “Has she ever done that to you before? Pen, has she hurt you? Does she grab you like that often? If she’s hurting you, you can tell me. Sofiá and I will…”

“She’s never done that before.” Penelope whispers, and her eyes begin to well with tears as she shakes her head. “Cameron, I’ve _never_ seen her like that. She’s not the jealous type. She’s always so...docile.”

“Look, have you considered that maybe Josie might be displaying the same mental illness that Lizzie has?” Cameron suggests hesitantly. “It’s not like any of us would…”

“Her parents keep a close eye on that, she’s been in therapy for years.” Penelope cuts in. “I would’ve noticed. I would’ve been able to pick up on it if she was becoming manic.”

“Well, whatever the fuck _that_ was looked a little bit manic.” Cameron mumbles. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Josie would never hurt me…”

“I know you think that, but shit happens. I don’t want you getting caught up in it.” Cameron explains in a stern tone. “We keep an eye on it, alright? We’ll fix this.”

Penelope shakes her head, “Josie doesn’t need to be _fixed_ , Cameron. She’s fine. She’s probably just tired. Overwhelmed. Who fucking knows. Anything but fucking _crazy._ ”

“Hey. Lizzie isn’t crazy. Don’t talk like that. It’s a chemical imbalance.” Cameron scolds. “And I only know that because Hope threatened to throw me through a wall if I ever tried to say crazy and Lizzie in the same sentence.”

Penelope laughs softly, “Wanna grab dinner?”

“Are you asking me out?” Cameron gasps as she presses a hand to her chest. “Penelope Elizabeth Park, I am spoken for.”

“Who the fuck is it?” Penelope demands as she playfully goes into a fighting stance. “I will beat the shit out of them.”

Cameron steps forward to swing a strong arm around Penelope’s neck, “And risk you breaking a nail? Nah.”

“Let me go!”

Neither girls notice Josie as they slip out of the dorm room. They don’t see the way her nails sink into the wall, the way claw marks hiss down the brick as she crushes it until it’s dust in her palm. Black eyes watch angrily as Cameron scoops Penelope over her shoulder and the pair disappear around the corner, laughter and happiness coating their voices.

_“Lies. Lies. It’s all lies.”_

-

“I just want you to know,” Cameron begins abruptly as she crosses the threshold into Reyna and Isabella’s dorm room, “That I would absolutely punch Josie in the face if I even _think_ she’s putting her hands on Penelope.” 

Reyna immediately gets up from her bed at this, catches Isabella’s startled gaze in equal amounts of confusion and worry, as she meets Cameron half way. “Wait what are you talking about? What happened?” 

“I’m just saying,” Cameron snaps, her shoulder muscles coiled tight under her t-shirt, “That I will.” 

“Okay,” Reyna drawls out. She reaches her hand to Cameron’s cheek and frowns at the heat that greets her palm, “I think you should, like sit, you’re burning up.” It was still sometimes surprising that Cameron was even capable of losing her temper but every once in a while something would hit a no no button and they were all reminded of just who the alpha was. The buttons usually consisted of Penelope and Reyna. 

Isabella sits up as best as she can with Sofiá sleeping on her lap, intent on worming her way into Isabella’s body even in her sleep. “Yeah, Cam, just chill and tell us what happened?” 

Cameron’s chest rumbles, not quite a growl but not too far from it either. She still sits on Reyna’s bed at Reyna’s urging. “Josie’s got a fucking stick up her ass.” She says by way of explanation. 

Reyna exchanges an exasperated look with Isabella. Both Sofiá and Cameron were not too big a fan of words on a good day but throw in any kind of extreme emotion and it was like pulling teeth to figure out what was wrong. It’s times like these that Reyna is glad for the mate bond because otherwise she’d be completely in the dark. She presses her hand solid against Cameron’s skin and takes a deep breath. She’s assaulted almost instantly by Cameron’s emotions and the blinding rage just barely kept at bay makes her wobble on her feet. It’s protectiveness and indignation mixing with worry, all directed at one source. 

“What did she do?” Isabella asks around a frown. 

“She got shitty with Penelope,” Reyna answers, her eyes blinking open. Cameron’s breathing a little calmer, her skin less flushed because Reyna could feel all her anger thrumming under her own skin now. A deep breath is all it takes to soothe it away. “Then she like grabbed her?” She directs this part to Cameron because while their bond was deep, without a claiming mark she couldn’t actually see into Cameron’s head or memories.

“Yeah,” Cameron sighs, “Too tight. Around her wrist. I didn’t like it. She’s been acting really weird.” 

Reyna soothes the hair on her head, “We’ll keep an eye out for little witch but baby, you know Josie...” 

“Don’t tell me she would never harm Penelope.” Cameron cuts in seriously, a severe frown on her face, “You don’t know that for sure. No one really knows what anyone is capable of until they’re already doing it.”

Reyna falls silent, exchanges a worried glance with Isabella. 

“You’re right,” Isabella agrees, diffuses, “We’ll keep an eye out.” Reyna nods quickly in agreement.

Cameron puffs out a ragged breath of relief and nods too. “Okay, thank you.” 

“Can you guys shut the _fuck_ up.” Sofiá gurgles out barely audible with her mouth muffled, her arm curling tighter around Isabella and dragging her back to her original spot. “Some of us are trying to sleep.” 

“You don’t need sleep.” Cameron sneers.

Sofiá’s laugh is throaty and tired, “Yeah but Bella is so warm.” She nuzzles her face further into Isabella’s side and Reyna feels like she’d be purring if she were a cat. Isabella blushes and shrugs her shoulders but goes back to playing with Sofiá’s hair like she had been before Cameron had barged in. 

Cameron looks like she’s going to respond but Reyna grabs her jaw. “Let it go, hothead.” 

Cameron deflates and falls backwards onto the bed. “I hate being angry, it makes me tired. I kept up a pretty good face for Penelope at dinner,” She tells Reyna much more privately, “But if Josie lays a finger...” 

“Cameron,” Reyna says as gently as she can, “You know she won’t but we would all make sure that doesn’t happen. Maybe you didn’t see what you think you saw.” 

Cameron levels her with a flat stare and Reyna smiles sheepishly and climbs on the bed beside her. “I know what I saw and felt.” 

“You’re right,” Reyna says, “But there’s no sense in worrying about it right now. You’ve already told us. Unless you want to go beat Josie up right now for something she may or may not have done?” She counters with a raised brow. 

Cameron grumbles and flops over onto her face, “Don’t fucking tempt me.” 

Reyna sits on her back just to make sure she doesn’t.

-

“This spot taken?”

Penelope shields her eyes as she looks up at the figure before her, “For you? I always have a spot open. You know that.”

“After last night…”

“It’s okay.” Penelope cuts in. “Well, it isn’t okay but it’s...it’s okay. I know that you were tired and stressed, we all get like that sometimes. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“I’m so sorry, Penelope.” Josie sighs as she lowers herself to kneel before her girlfriend. “I should’ve never put my hands on you like that or spoken to you like that. Something just...came over me.”

“Mm. I think I know what it is.” Penelope hums as she reaches out to brush a hand over Josie’s worried face. “It’s a monster. A strong one.”

Josie blinks in fear, “Who? What?”

“The green eyed jealousy monster.” Penelope whispers, and a laugh breaks free as Josie softens with a smile. “Are you sure you’re okay, babe? Your vibe was just _off_ last night.”

“Just tired.” Josie assures her.

“Are you sure…?”

“Yes.” Josie snaps, and Penelope startles at the ice in her tone. “It didn’t help seeing you and Cameron like that, but it really is just exhaustion. I’ll be fine once I get a good night’s sleep.”

Penelope glances to Josie slowly, “You should know by now that Cameron is just my best friend.”

“I know.” Josie pouts. “Just seeing you two so comfortable reminds me that I don’t...I don’t have a Cameron. I used to have Lizzie, but she’s been so distant lately.”

Penelope tilts her head, “Why don’t you ever just talk to me about stuff like this? I am more than happy to lend you one of my pets.”

“That’s just it, they’re _yours._ ” Josie shrugs. “I want to find my own version of a pack, I want to be able to know that I have four supernatural weirdos at my beck and call.”

“You have MG…”

“He almost killed my girlfriend.” Josie drawls as she narrows her eyes. “I think I mostly just miss Lizzie, I miss how we used to be. We’re a million miles away from each other.”

“Well, why don’t you plan a sister day?” Penelope chirps as she flips her iPad around. “We can find a place for you guys to have dinner, maybe do something afterwards.”

Josie watches her with soft eyes, “I love you.”

“I love you.” Penelope smiles as she leans forward to steal a kiss. “Now, help me figure out where you’re taking your evil sister.”

“Ah, there’s my girl.”

The couple sit beneath the shaded tree and scroll through the limited options that won’t take the twins too far away from campus. Every few minutes, Penelope pauses to look at Josie; she wants to make sure she’s okay, that she’s still in the right frame of mind. As for Josie, she simply meets the soft gaze of her girlfriend and smiles. Penelope is here and present, she _cares._ Desperately, Josie tries to cling to that knowledge. Desperately, Josie tries to remind herself that the woman in front of her loves her unconditionally. No matter what, they’ll get through everything so long as their together; and Josie promises forever with her.

“The reviews on this place are bad.” Penelope frowns. “Listen to this one, I found what I think is a toenail in my soup. Husband thought it was garlic, but it was too crunchy.”

Josie scrunches her nose, “Ew.”

“So, definitely no to that place.” Penelope mumbles. “Why is it that Mystic Falls has so little to choose from?”

“It’s a small town. Everything stays the same. I’m not surprised places haven’t changed much. It’s kind of romantic.” Josie admits. “There’s a cute little bistro.”

“Do they have garlic bread?” Penelope demands, and Josie shrugs. “We need to find out if they have garlic bread, I would _kill_ for some. So, you can take Lizzie and then take me.”

“Okay, baby.” Josie chuckles as she leans forward to press a kiss to Penelope’s grin. “I’ll find you a place with garlic bread.”

Penelope preens in excitement, “It’s been so long since you and I have actually been able to go out to dinner. It’ll be nice. Obviously, Lizzie comes first but then there’s me.”

“It really will. We get to get dressed up, spend some time off campus, and I get you all to myself. Which is rare.” Josie hums. “It’ll be nice to have just _you_ for longer than ten minutes.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I am fucking _exhausted_.”

Penelope smiles brightly as Reyna approaches them with dropped shoulders, “What’s up? How was your test?”

“Pretty sure I bombed it.” Reyna scoffs as she tosses her bag aside. “I couldn’t remember any of the shit we studied for.”

“Cameron made you flash cards!” Penelope reminds her. “And Isabella spent at least two hours going over most of it with you.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that I suck at taking tests, little witch.” Reyna whines as she sinks to her knees. “I need a nap.”

Josie looks between them, “Penelope and I…”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t mind me.” Reyna yawns as she lays herself across Penelope’s legs. “Just pretend that I’m not even here.”

“But we were…”

“Uh huh.” Reyna nods as she nuzzles her face into Penelope’s stomach. “It’ll be a quick nap, fifteen minutes top.”

“Sorry, babe. She doesn’t really listen when she’s tired.” Penelope chuckles as she begins to track her fingers through messy black hair. “What were you saying?”

“Nothing.” Josie sighs as she leans back against the tree with defeat in her gaze. “So, are we settling on the bistro?”

“Sure, Jojo.” Penelope grins. “Whatever you want.”

Josie flashes a half smile in return as she looks back to her phone in an effort to ignore the attention Penelope is now paying to Reyna. Something stirs in her stomach, dark and festering, and it takes everything she has to quell it. She swallows hard and urges it down, blinks hard to clear away the feeling of whatever it is that is suddenly crackling in her veins.

“ _Time to shift our attention?_ ”

“Sofiá.”

Penelope looks to her, “Did you say something?”

“No.” Josie snaps. “Nothing at all.”

-

“So, Josie mention anything else about the merge?”

Lizzie rolls her eyes as she pauses in throwing punches, “No. I guess Cameron talked her out of pursuing it, said it was a waste of our time because we don’t know enough.”

“How do you feel about that?” Hope frowns.

“If Cameron thinks it’s for the best then who am I to question it.” Lizzie sighs as she wipes her forearm over her sweaty forehead. “She’s my alpha or whatever, right?”

“Doesn’t mean you have to listen.” Hope shrugs as she leans against the punching bag. “If you want to look into this then I’ll help you, we can talk to my aunt.”

“I think we should leave well enough alone. I know Josie is convinced my dad is hiding something...maybe he really is, but he’s hiding it for a reason. He wouldn’t just put us in danger for the hell of it.” Lizzie replies. “I don’t want to get caught up in something right now.”

“Well, I definitely don’t want you getting caught up in something either.” Hope hums. “So, if you want to put it aside then consider it put aside.”

“Are you actually listening to someone for once? No daredevil antics?” Lizzie gasps as she bounces on her toes. “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

Hope forces a smile, “Anything for you.”

“Anything?” Lizzie smirks.

“Let’s be reasonable.” Hope orders as she narrows her eyes. “I know how that brain works, and I’m not interested in getting roped into any of your Saltzman shenanigans.”

“Shenanigans?” Lizzie repeats with a laugh as she steps away from the punching bag. “I know you didn’t just say _shenanigans_.”

“I did. Wanna hear me say it again?” Hope purrs as she steps around the bag. “Shenanigans. There. Said it twice.”

Lizzie lifts her fists, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Are you challenging me?” Hope demands as she matches Lizzie’s stance. “I don’t want to have to embarrass you.”

“Excuse me? Do you know who my mother is? I’m trained.” Lizzie reminds her as she circles Hope carefully. “I can take you down without breaking a sweat.”

“You’re cute.” Hope chuckles.

Lizzie startles, “Excuse me?”

“Your uh your _confidence_ is cute.” Hope explains with a flinch. “Not to say that _you_ aren’t cute, it’s just a different kind of cute.”

“You’re rambling, Mikaelson.” Lizzie snorts as she takes a small swing. “How about you shut up and try and pin me?”

Hope feels a heat swell through her at the words and she can’t help the images that flash in her mind. She tries to focus, she really tries to play along but she can’t. All she can think about is how beautiful Lizzie is when she’s smiling, when her nose scrunches if she laughs too hard. If this was an actual fight then she’d be losing miserably. Eventually, she snaps herself back to reality and dodges a kick that is aimed at her and easily leaps over the leg that tries to sweep her off her feet. She laughs softly as soon as a fist brushes by her, the air whips loud enough by her ear as she arches an eyebrow.

“Oh! Almost had me!”

The two dance around each other and swing with ease, but neither manage to land any punches. It’s almost a dance, a perfectly practiced dance that neither want to end. Except it does. Of course it does. It ends as soon as Hope accidentally lands a hit, a strike straight to Lizzie abdomen that has her teetering backwards and falling on the mat with a gasp of pain. The panic immediately seizes Hope as she hurries to cross the room and fall beside Lizzie who is laying with her eyes closed, a single tear falling down the side of her head and disappearing into her hair. Hope is gentle as she helps Lizzie sit up and her heart breaks slightly when Lizzie releases a sob and curls her arms around her knees protectively; it worries her, this isn’t exactly a logical response to the hit she landed.

“Lizzie?”

Lizzie breathes out deeply, “Hm?”

“I’m so sorry, Lizzie. I didn’t mean to hit you. I wasn’t trying...I didn’t mean to.” Hope breathes out with a desperate expression. “I hope I didn’t break anything.”

“You’re not fucking Hercules.” Lizzie snaps.

Hope rolls her eyes at the words, “Lemme see.”

Lizzie is all huffs and glares as she peels her tanktop from her skin and rolls it enough to reveal the nasty red spot that is already spreading across her toned abdomen. Hope licks her lips without really registering it, but she definitely hears the sharp intake of breath Lizzie takes when her hand brushes against her soft skin. Hope lifts her gaze and sees the blush that colors Lizzie’s cheeks, but she can also make out the barest hint of a smile on her face. She doesn’t think it’ll bruise, but Lizzie’s skin is so fair that she can’t exactly say for sure; what she _is_ sure of is that they’re inches apart as soon as she lifts her head.

“I’m so sorry, Lizzie.”

Their eyes meet and Hope can’t help but tilt her head forward, can’t help but lick her lips again. It would be so easy to just reach out and tug her fingers through golden hair, easy enough to pull Lizzie to her. But she can’t. Because why would Lizzie want her to? Why would this beautiful girl ever want anything to do with her? And her suspicions are confirmed when a gentle hand settles against her shoulder and pushes her back, pushes her _away._ Their moment is broken as Lizzie suddenly scrambles to her feet and winces as she hurries to grab her bag and water bottle; she hurries and never seems to stop and check the damage she is leaving behind.

“Repeat tomorrow?” Lizzie asks.

Hope doesn’t look at her, “Sure.”

“See you later, Hope.”

As soon as she’s gone, Hope collapses onto her back and groans; leave it to her to fall for the one person she’ll never have.

-

_The dark veins slowly seep back into her eyes and she wipes the blood from her chin as she stares down at the lifeless bodies around her. A smirk spreads across her lips as she whistles happily and nudges one of the bodies with her feet in order to flop it onto its back. The smile on her face quickly disappears though as she is met with the pale expression of Lizzie Saltzman. Sofiá stumbles back in horror and trips over a body, and she covers her mouth as Hope’s head lulls and stares at her with empty eyes. Sofiá is confused, she doesn’t understand what is happening. This isn’t how this plays out; this is supposed to be the pack that held Reyna captive, that stripped her of her self confidence and gentleness._

_Sofiá feels like her entire world is going up in flames as she looks around and realizes that everyone she cares about is drained and dead. Cameron is slumped on a wall, her neck ripped and coated in red. Penelope is sprawled with her wrists torn and her hair matted. Reyna is dropped at Cameron’s feet, her red lips formed as if they were pleading to be spared. And then there’s Isabella, her beautiful girl. Laid out in the center of the floor, Isabella looks peaceful. Her neck is dotted with fangs and her skin is white, evidence that she has been successfully drained. Her once pink lips are tinted blue. Her eyes are closed. She’s gone._

_“My, my. What a mess you’ve made.”_

_Sofiá startles, “Josie?”_

_“In the flesh.” Josie hums as she steps over Penelope’s body. “Which is surprising. I mean, look what you’ve done.”_

_“I-I didn’t mean to…”_

_“You never mean to.” Josie hisses. “You never mean to do anything. It’s always a joke, an accident. But you don’t realize how many people you hurt along the way.”_

_Sofiá shakes her head, “I don’t understand.”_

_“You hurt people. You hurt me.” Josie explains with a pout. “You don’t actually want me to be a part of the pack, do you? You only accept me because of Penelope.”_

_“I don’t understand!” Sofiá repeats as she crawls towards Isabella, and she is careful as she gathers her into her arms. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”_

_Josie groans, “Answer me.”_

_“None of this makes sense.” Sofiá snarls as she flashes a veined glare at Josie. “If I was going to kill any of them, I’d kill you first.”_

_“Admittance to my question?”_

_“Fuck off.” Sofiá hisses. “Just...fuck off.”_

_Josie hums and snaps her fingers._

“Isabella!”

“Dude, chill!”

Sofiá struggles for a moment as she sits up wildly and looks around to see that she is in the library, “Where’s Bella?”

“Studying with Hope.” Penelope replies in a slow, worried tone. “What the fuck was that, Sof? One second we were studying and the next you like drifted off.”

“I...I was dreaming?” Sofiá murmurs in confusion.

Penelope arches an eyebrow, “About?”

Sofiá shakes her head as she brushes her fingers through her hair, “I-I can’t remember, Penelope. It was just fucking awful.”

“Hey, you’re good.” Penelope soothes as she scratches her back. “You’re safe. Want me to text Isa to come lay with you?”

“No. She’s cramming for a test.” Sofiá mumbles as she sits up in the chair. “I don’t even...I haven’t dreamt like that in years, Penelope. I don’t dream.”

“Things happen.” Penelope shrugs, but it brings Sofiá little comfort. “Let’s just focus on this homework, okay? Get your mind off of whatever the hell that was.”

Sofiá nods numbly, “Yeah. Uh. Yeah.”

With a hard swallow, Sofiá reaches for the textbook she dropped and flips through the pages with shaking hands. She tries hard to remember her dream, but it all fades into the back of her mind; to her though, it feels like her forgetfulness will be the death of them all.


	3. my insecurities are hurting me

Something feels _off_.

Lizzie can’t explain it, but something has been boiling in her gut for a few days. It festers, low and dark. It crawls through her veins and edges into the depths of her brain. She doesn’t know what it is or what it means, but her anxiety has been edging closer to snapping and she’s terrified. Her fingers drum along the pages of the book she is staring at, and she can hear Hope’s soothing voice a few feet away; of course she’s with Hope, she pretty much has glued herself to her side over the last few months. She can’t explain that either, the sudden need to be around someone she supposedly used to hate.

Maybe it’s the way Hope smiles, always so hesitant and full of mystery. Maybe it’s the way she walks with so much weight on her shoulders but always appears confident. Maybe it’s the way she hides herself from the world but strips herself bare for Lizzie to see. Maybe it’s a combination of the fact that she _knows_ Hope Mikaelson and Hope Mikaelson knows her. Whatever it is, it isn’t quite helping now. Suddenly, her world feels like it’s caving in. It feels like someone has suddenly cupped their hands over her ears while sharp claws edge into her stomach.

A blanket settles over her, thick and itchy. Her heart races. Her vision flashes. Her palms sweat. The room disappears from around her and suddenly she’s alone. Except she’s not. There’s a shadow standing in front of her and his teeth drip with something dark, his smile is gleeful. He seems almost surprised to see her. Lizzie is glued to her spot on what appears to be a chair, and her jaw won’t unclench. She’s stuck staring at this monster and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. A tear trails down her cheek as she struggles to move, but the chair simply groans in protest and she stays put.

“ _There you are. Almost as beautiful as your sister, but not quite. Never as beautiful, never as smart. Never wanted. You’ll never be her and it kills you, doesn’t it?_ ”

Lizzie whimpers.

“ _You could disappear, darling. You could leave and no one will care. You could slip away and you won’t be missed for a moment. You’ll never be powerful enough to stay. So, run. Run before it’s too late._ ”

The shadow disappears with one last chilling laugh, a sound that drips to her core. It’s a sound that will haunt her. Lizzie doesn’t understand, she doesn’t know what she saw. One moment she is with this mystery of a demon and the next she is back on Hope’s bed, her eyes staring blankly ahead. The textbook slides off her lap and hits the floor with a thud, and she wants to scream. She needs to hear a sound. She needs to hear her own voice, she needs _something._ Her skin crawls and her muscles ache as her body continues to tense, continues to keep her glued to her spot.

“Lizzie?”

And then Lizzie sees her, sees her like she’s somehow enveloped in a warm light. She sees Hope’s concerned face appear before her and the tears come faster, her lips part to allow a sob to slip free. Lizzie is scared, this isn’t like her usual panic attacks. No, normally she can destroy a room. Normally, glass erupts with her screams. Normally, she causes chaos. Yet this is a slow, drawn out attack. This is pure fear and confusion. This is trying to make sense of what is happening around her. Soft hands cradle her face and Lizzie is able to release a gasp as thumbs card across her face, the pads of them smearing away each tear.

“Lizzie, breathe with me.”

She can’t. No, she can’t.

“Yes, yes you can.” Hope assures her, and Lizzie notices her head moving. “Look at me, Lizzie. You have to breathe for me.”

How? She doesn’t know how.

Hope takes a hand and places it on her own abdomen, “Feel that? I want you to match me, okay? Follow me, baby. In and out.”

_Baby._ The word echoes in her head and Lizzie feels the panic seize her again because it makes her feel so light, makes her feel okay. Lizzie whimpers and Hope is back on her knees with her hands cradling her jaw and her eyes boring into hers. Lizzie wants to say something to her, she wants to say _anything,_ but Hope is moving and lips are settling against her own. They’re soft, they’re calming. They’re breathing her forgotten breaths into her and Lizzie is slowly sinking into it, slowly coming back down to reality as she tries to respond.

“There you go.” Hope hums as she pulls away to meet Lizzie’s gaze. “Just take a calm breath, Lizzie. I’m right here.”

Her heart beat slows.

“In.”

Her muscles relax.

“Out.”

Her eyes slowly begin to blink.

“In.”

Hands cradle her face, and she nuzzles into them.

“Out.”

A slow breath slips from between her lips and Hope matches it with one of her own, the relief clear in her expression. As soon as Hope seems to be content with her breathing, she shifts onto the bed so she can slide a protective arm around Lizzie’s shoulders. Lizzie stutters out another breath as she feels the panic leaving her, but the voice in her head doesn’t stray too far. She can still hear whatever that demon was, still see the sharpness of his teeth. A whimper leaves her as she turns and burrows into Hope, tucks her head beneath her chin as she tries to lessen the ache her body feels from the panic attack.

“You’re okay.” Hope soothes as gentle fingers trek through golden locks. “You’re alright, I’ve got you. I’m right here.”

Lizzie nods slowly, “You kis-kissed me.”

“I know. I’m so sorry if I crossed a line.” Hope mutters, regret coating her tone. “I didn’t know what to do, and I was scared. I just...I wanted you to calm down.”

“You kissed me.”

Her words are stronger, more sure. They register in her own head. Lizzie tentatively lifts her head and stares down at Hope, runs her eyes over her soft features and her lips that turn up into an apologetic smile. Lizzie hesitates for only a moment before she ducks her head and presses their lips together in a soft kiss, a kiss that is barely a brush of lips. Yet Hope doesn’t let her stray far, her hand curls gently around her neck and guides her back into a kiss that causes both of them to sigh in surprise. Lips melt together and Lizzie finds her body shifting, finds her legs barakating Hope to the bed as gentle fingers massage at her scalp while another hand skirts up thigh and warms the skin beneath her tights.

Lizzie feels a moan build in her throat as Hope parts her lips and tentatively brushes their tongues together, tentatively drags her palm a little harder up her thigh. As soon as fingertips dip just beneath her skirt, the moan finally breaks free and she pulls away from the kids with a surprised gasp. Hope stares up at her with wide eyes, the fear in them evident as her hands drop to her sides and she pulls her swollen lower lip in between her teeth.

“Lizzie, I am so sorry…”

“Don’t apologize.” Lizzie pleads as she squeezes her eyes shut. “If this wasn’t what you wanted and it was a spur of the moment thing…”

“It wasn’t!” Hope cuts in as she sits up, her hand going to cradle Lizzie’s lower back. “I promise you this isn’t some type of spur of the moment thing, I’ve wanted to kiss you.”

Lizzie blinks in surprise, “That night in the gym?”

“Definitely planning to kiss you.” Hope mumbles as her cheeks flush.

“Oh.” Lizzie hums as her brow furrows. “ _Oh._ ”

“Are you okay?” Hope asks as she shifts so Lizzie can fit comfortably in her lap. “You spaced out and had a panic attack, Lizzie.”

Lizzie shakes her head, “I’m okay. I just...I’m fine. Especially now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” Lizzie nods as she cups Hope’s face and locks their eyes. “Thank you, for being here. Thank you for calming me down.”

“Always.” Hope whispers.

“Are you sure?” Lizzie asks as she makes a motion between them. “Are you sure you want to even attempt to do whatever it is we’re planning to do?”

“Well, I’m planning to take you on a date.” Hope drawls with a roll of her eyes. “And yes. Of course I’m sure. I don’t exactly do things halfway, you know?”

Lizzie shakes her head, “I’m crazy.”

“So?”

“ _You’re_ crazy for wanting this.” Lizzie scoffs.

“Then call me crazy. Because I do want this. I want you.” Hope assures her, the sincerity clear in her tone. “I want us. I want whatever it is we can be, okay?”

“Okay.” Lizzie nods.

Lizzie smiles and allows a small laugh to slip free as Hope struggles for a moment until she can successfully flip their positions so she is hovering over Lizzie. As their lips meet, the last thing on Lizzie’s mind is that shadow. How could she possibly believe those words now? No, not when Hope Mikaelson is kissing her and she feels like she’s on top of the world.

-

“That was...a little helpful.” Josie admits as she powders her face. “It feels like I might be getting closer to some truths. And visiting Lizzie was a nice little bonus.”

“ _I told you to trust me_.”

Josie meets the dark eyes in her mirror, “I know. I was just nervous. I want this to be over, I want all my answers so things can go back to the way they were before.”

“ _Are you saying you’d like to speed up the process?_ ”

“Kind of.” Josie shrugs.

“ _It’s time for me to play, my pet.”_

Josie tilts her head, “What do you mean?”

“ _Take a deep breath and count down from ten.”_

With a nervous blink, Josie sucks in a breath and begins to count down. She gets to four and finds that her body is slowly falling; she feels her entire being rotating and twisting, and then she’s slamming down in a familiar chair and left to watch through her own eyes as Veritas begins to make his way through the school.

-

“Fuck me, dude.” Penelope scoffs as she stares at her phone. “I understand that Josie is going through some stuff, but she’s getting _way_ too bossy. I asked what books she needed and she texted me one and said just get it.”

Cameron whistles, “You’re in the dog house.”

“Says the one who actually is going to eventually have to live in a dog house.” Penelope smirks, and she trades a high five with Isabella. “Don’t know why you’re high fiving me, Isa. You’re a stinky beast too.”

“But I’m pretty.” Isabella chirps.

“Oh, absolutely stunning.” Penelope nods as they duck into the library.

The scene of the library is daunting as they clear in; it’s quiet, empty. There isn’t any students frantically trying to finish homework or teachers planning out their lessons for tomorrow. It’s a ghost town. Penelope trades a small glance with Cameron as they silently vow to keep Isabella between them while they wander through the aisles and quietly converse. Finally, Penelope spots the book Josie asked for and stands on the bottom shelf to haul herself up so she can pull it free. The cover is dusty and Penelope furrows her brow in confusion as she looks it over and tries to make out the Latin that seems to be clawed out, the pages yellowed and weathered as she thumbs through it.

“How is she even planning to read that? It’s beaten to shit.” Cameron mumbles through a mouthful of orange.

Penelope looks her over, “Where’d you get that?”

“Found it.” Cameron shrugs as she pops another slice of orange into her mouth. “So, can we get out of here because this place is lowkey giving me the creeps?”

Isabella nods, “Seconded.”

Penelope shrugs in agreement, but they’re stopped as they hear the sound of metal dragging against something. It’s loud and overwhelming, and Cameron whimpers as she drops her orange and covers her ears while Isabella pulls her hood over her head and tightens the strings in an attempt to drown it out. Meanwhile, Penelope is already rushing down the aisle to investigate only for a strong arm to wrap around her waist and pull her back. The sound of the dragging metal seems to draw closer with every breath taken, and the three girls press against the bookshelf as they hear things being tossed aside and shattered.

“What the fuck is that?” Isabella whimpers.

“I don’t know.” Cameron hisses as she grits her teeth. “We need to get the fuck out of here before we find out though.”

_“Ladies?”_

Penelope jumps at the deep voice, “Fuck off!”

“Penelope!” Isabella groans as she clamps a hand over her best friend’s mouth. “We don’t answer the scary demon voices.”

_“Penelope Park, always running your mouth. Speaking out of turn. You really are more trouble than you’re worth.”_

“Hey!” Isabella protests. “Watch it!”

_“Mm, Isabella Flozmin. So much to unpack there. So many things to say. Where should I even begin with a kicked puppy like you?”_

Cameron snarls, “Watch your mouth!”

_“Oh, Cameron Gonzalez. The alpha. The leader. The one who will eventually lead her precious pack straight into death. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that what you’re afraid of?”_

Cameron goes rigid at the words and wonders how this _thing_ knows something so personal about her. Of course she has worries of failing her pack, of being the alpha that destroys their entire world. With a hard swallow, she presses a finger to her lips and pushes Isabella back so they begin to back away from where metal is now clacking playfully against bookshelves. As they fumble over their footing, all three of them realize they’re pushing themselves further away from the exit. They’re essentially trapping themselves. They only get so far before a bookshelf is shoved over and Isabella nearly misses yanking Cameron out of the way as it falls and reveals the quick puff of smoke.

“Run.” Cameron orders breathlessly, and she turns to see Isabella and Penelope blinking at her in confusion. “Run!”

The trio claw their way over the fallen bookshelf and the confusion sets in as they’re shoved and kicked aside with every step they take. It’s like something invisible is keeping them from escaping, like they’re moments away from being caught. Cameron growls in irritation as she once again falls and she catches the sight of a wave of black smoke that disappears in the corner of her vision. With a glare, she keeps a close eye on Isabella and she once again picks up the sight of smoke as Isabella finds herself tumbling down in an effort to escape.

Penelope scrambles back to her feet with a yell of annoyance, “It won’t stop...Cameron, it keeps going for my ankles!”

“Come here!” Cameron orders as she hauls Penelope onto her back. “It must know you’re human, it has to be able to sense it.”

“What do we _do_?” Isabella demands.

“We keep…”

Cameron is cut off as something slams into her side and essentially bulldozes all three teens backwards and into a pile of books. Just like that, they’re hurrying to escape but the smoke comes in faster puffs as it fires shots at Cameron’s stomach, slams Penelope into the floor, and tosses books at Isabella until she is almost buried beneath them. Cameron gives into the anger that thrums in her veins and startles her friends when a growl tears through her chest and her eyes beam yellow. She isn’t going to wolf out, not here. But she’ll go down swinging if it means protecting Isabella and Penelope. The fear prickles at her skin as she sees Penelope once again take a hit, a trail of blood slowly seeping from a cut on her forehead.

“Get her out.” Isabella orders as she crawls towards Cameron. “Cam, you have to get her out of here before she gets hurts.”

Cameron flashes her eyes, “Not without you.”

“She’s _human_. I’m a fucking beast.” Isabella reminds her as she flashes her canines. “You think I’m scared of a shadow? No. You get her out of here. _Now_.”

“I can’t leave you…”

“You can.” Isabella assures her. “Just get her somewhere safe, you don’t even have to go far. I’ll be okay. I’ll stay in the rafters, Sofiá showed me a couple of spots.”

Cameron hesitates, “I...I can’t.”

“Please.” Isabella murmurs. “For me.”

Cameron hisses low and angry before she gives a short nod, “I’m going to grab her and take her to the closest spot that is safe, you stay in the rafters till I get back. Five minutes, okay?”

Isabella forces a smile and Cameron rushes to grab Penelope so they can leave, and somehow they manage an escape. Isabella breathes a sigh of relief as she dodges a book and hurries to climb into the rafters like Sofiá showed her. Her moves are leath as she crawls long the solid wood and each step she takes is like walking on air. Below her, she watches the destruction of the library continue as the shadow searches for whatever it is it’s looking for. She hears a dark, deep chuckle and her head tilts as she grips a rafter and flings herself closer to where the black cloud zips through the room.

“ _Oh, Isa. Always alone_.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Isabella groans as she swings to the opposite side of the rafter. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _The most useless one, aren’t you? You’re expendable. That’s why Cameron left you, huh? They don’t need you._ ”

“It’s cute that you think mind manipulation is going to work on me.” Isabella snorts. “You don’t think I have these thoughts on my own? I have fucking anxiety, my dude.”

“ _And what about Sofiá? Do you think about all the things I could do to her? Lock her back up? Put her back where she belongs? Give her back to her true master.”_

Isabella feels her body tighten and she claws desperately at a rafter before the anger manifests and she drops onto the top of a bookcase. She doesn’t care what she’s fighting, she doesn’t even care if she loses, but she’ll go down making sure that it doesn’t mess with Sofiá. She’s lived through her girlfriend’s nightmares, she’s heard the horror stories; the fact that whatever this _thing_ knows about it makes her feel like she can’t breathe. No, she refuses to let Sofiá suffer. With a snarl, she begins to rush along the bookcase as she tries to find the semi invisible beast they’re fighting. And when she finally spots it, she skids to a stop and the fear begins to gnaw at her stomach.

It’s fear that starts at the tips of her toes and somehow makes its way through her entire being. It’s a fear that has her wolf whimpering and bowing to submission. It’s a fear that seems to send her mate signals because Sofiá comes crashing through the library doors, eyes dripping with black veins and her fangs on full display. And just like that, Isabella turns her head and realizes that whatever was standing there is gone. It takes Sofiá a moment to find her, but her girlfriend instantly softens as she begins to frantically crawl up the bookshelves until she can crawl to Isabella and gather her safely into her strong, protective arms.

“Baby.” Sofiá breathes out as she rocks them and kisses her head “Baby. Baby. _Baby._ What happened? Why were you so scared?”

“ _Isabella_?”

The cry comes from the doorway as Cameron stumbles through the open door and begins to look around. Just as quickly as Sofiá was around her, she releases her in favor of diving off the shelf and colliding with Cameron. Isabella doesn’t even have it in her to stop it, she merely stares at the space that the thing once was as she tries to clear her mind. A few feet away, Sofiá slams Cameron hard against the wall and doesn’t even flinch when she puts a clear dent in the plaster and pins a forearm against her neck. Just like before, her eyes drip and her fangs slowly drop as she hisses and ignores the way that Cameron struggles against her.

“What are you doing?” Cameron chokes out.

“Don’t.” Sofiá hisses. “Don’t fucking call for her like you suddenly fucking _care._ She was alone when I got here. Where were you?”

Cameron struggles, “Sof…”

“I can smell her. You got Penelope out of here, didn’t you? Whatever freaked you guys out, you got Penelope out.” Sofiá growls as she pulls away from Cameron. “You got her out of harms way faster than the blink of an eye, but you told Isabella to _wait_. Didn’t you? She could’ve been killed! I could’ve…”

“Do you really think I didn’t think this through? She’s a wolf. _My_ wolf.” Cameron points out as she fists the lapels of Sofiá’s jacket. “Don’t start questioning my leadership now.”

“What if…?”

“I never would’ve left her if I thought she was in serious danger.” Cameron scoffs. “Penelope is a human, it was easier to get her out. I was on my way back before you came busting in here like a bulldozer.”

“I just…I could feel her fear.” Sofiá whimpers as she grapples onto the hands that hold tight to her jacket. “I could feel that she was scared, and I lost it. I’m sorry. I’m _sorry_.”

“You are my pack.” Cameron whispers as she rests their foreheads together. “You all matter to me, every last one of you. I will die before I let one of you get hurt, okay? The only way something will happen is if I can’t get to you, okay? That will always be the only reason.”

Sofiá shakes her head, “She was scared.”

“I know.” Cameron hums as she cups a hand around the back of Sofiá’s neck. “I was scared too, and so was Penelope. We need to get Isabella, we gotta get out of here and regroup. She’s texting Reyna to meet at our spot.”

“She’s _alone_?” Sofiá demands.

Cameron pulls back with a small flinch, “Exactly. Both her and Reyna are, unless Reyna has already reached her which wouldn’t surprise me. We gotta go.”

“She’s up here.” Sofiá mumbles. “Come on.”

Sofiá leaps and grapples onto a rafter to vault herself to Isabella while Cameron simply scampers to the shelves as they hurry to where Isabella is staring. Sofiá curls herself around her girlfriend while Cameron lingers back and feels the heat of Isabella’s confusion. In front of them, they see utter wonder and horror as Isabella rocks back and forth with her arms curled around her knees as she stares off into the distance. With gentle kisses, Sofiá tries to pull Isabella back to reality until brown eyes finally lift to look at her and immediately well with tears.

“Josie.” Isabella breathes out as she looks up at her friends, the horror in her eyes. “It looked...it looked just like Josie.”

-

Josie crashes through the branches and tumbles to her knees as her stomach lurches painfully. A whisper of a sob leaves her as she rolls onto her back and stares up at the star filled sky, tries to come back down from the painful high she is on. The world seems to spin as she lays there and tries to control her breathing, tries to bring herself back to reality. She knows what happened in that library, she could feel the rage that Veritas used. She could feel the sense of entertainment he got from toying with Cameron, Penelope, and Isabella. She could feel it and all she could do was stay silent in that white room, glued to that chair and silently screaming.

“What did you do?” Josie demands.

“ _Oh, don’t overreact. I was merely enjoying a little playtime with your...friends. It was all done in innocent fun, pet.”_

Josie feels her knees tremble, “You hurt her.”

“ _She’s hurting you!_ ”

“No.” Josie hisses as she presses her hands to her head. “Penelope isn’t supposed to be hurt, none of them are supposed to be hurt. They’re still...they’re my pack.”

Veritas laughs bitterly, “ _Your precious pack can’t stand the sight of you, they don’t want you. Isn’t that the reason I’m here?_ ”

“No!” Josie groans. “You’re here to help me, I just wanted to know the truth. I wanted to find out about the merge, I wanted to know what my friends thought of me. I just...I wanted to know if Penelope truly loves me.”

“ _Love? Child, you’re ridiculous. Do you realize the power you hold? I can feel it in your skin, hear it singing in your soul. You’re so angry, and it’s so beautiful. I want more for you, my pet. I want them to bow to you. To us._ ”

“This isn’t why you’re here…”

“ _But it’s why I’m staying. You’re surrounded by liars, made a family with deceivers. I can right your wrongs, destroy the things that bring you pain. I can make this better._ ”

“Veritas, please.” Josie sobs as she arches off the forest floor. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, I want this to stop.”

“ _I tire of this back and forth with you. It’s time for me to do what I do best, it’s time for me to play this game my way. You ridiculous child. I tire of you wasting my sources. It’s time for you to say goodnight, pet._ ”

Josie barely gets a gasp out before everything around her goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Next chapter, we get a little insight to the pack and Josie. I think we could use some fluff before all the action starts ;)


	4. i told you i’d spill my guts (i left you to clean it up)

“How’s Isabella?”

“Asleep.” Sofiá sighs as she ducks into the hallway. “Took awhile, but she finally managed to pass out.”

Reyna hums in relief as she offers the half empty bottle of gin to Sofiá, “What do you think? About what she saw?”

“With the way Josie’s been acting? I don’t know. I mean, it’s possible.” Sofiá scoffs as she takes a quick swig. “We have to tell Penelope. Where did Cameron take her?”

“Took her to get that cut cleaned.” Reyna replies as she rubs at her eyes. “I don’t know how the fuck we’re going to explain this to her, how we’re going to make her believe us.”

“Isabella’s fear should be enough to convince her.” Sofiá hisses. “Isabella doesn’t get _scared_ , not like that. I’ve never seen her like that, Reyna. I’ve never felt something like that. She was so scared and it took over her entire soul.”

Reyna ducks her head, “I can’t imagine.”

“All of this shit is seriously fucking me up.” Sofiá admits with a shake of her head. “It’s our senior year, we’re supposed to be getting ready for college not battling demons.”

Reyna hums in agreement, “It sucks.”

“It _sucks?_ That’s it? Our girlfriends almost died tonight, Reyna.” Sofiá snaps. “Isabella, Penelope, and Cameron were literally attacked in the library and got away by a stroke of fucking luck. I almost lost the love of my life, and so did you! How are you so okay?”

“Because I have to be.” Reyna replies in a calm, empty tone. “You’re freaking out, Isabella is in shock, Penelope is chasing Josie, and Cameron is chasing Penelope. I’m the only one holding it together, someone has to be strong.”

Sofiá pauses, “It shouldn’t have to be you.”

“Yeah.” Reyna scoffs. “But it is.”

“Sometimes I wish we would’ve just kept our asses where they were.” Sofiá mumbles as she hands Reyna the gin. “We’d be free of all this drama.”

“Yet we wouldn’t have Cameron and Isabella…”

“Only downside.” Sofiá pouts. “Honestly, if we could all just run away then I’d be fine. Us, Cameron, Isabella, and Penelope. That’s all I need. I’d be fine.”

Reyna swallows the alcohol, “And the rest of them?”

“Eh.”

“Damn.” Reyna chuckles as she tips the bottle against her lips. “Be honest with me, do you even want Josie to be a part of our pack?”

Sofiá hesitates as her brow furrows, “Whoa. You know, the other day, Penelope and I were studying and I swear I had a dream about Josie asking me the same question.”

“Huh?”

“Asking me if I didn’t want her to be a part of our pack.” Sofiá mutters in a slow tone. “I-I woke up so freaked out because I don’t exactly dream, haven’t for years. But this? This felt so real, dude. Too real.”

Reyna clears her throat, “You didn’t exactly answer the question, Sof. Do you want Josie in our pack?”

“Of course I do.” Sofiá sneers. “I just...she’s been off lately, and it ruins our vibes. I don’t like seeing any of you guys upset, and I know how Penelope gets. It’s hard sometimes seeing her pining or crying over shit.”

“We all make each other cry.” Reyna shrugs. “I know Josie has been going through some shit, but I can see where you’re coming from. I just don’t know how to fix it.”

“Please tell me that’s alcohol.”

Reyna pushes off the wall as Cameron comes slumping down the hallway, “It is. Found it stashed in the kitchen.”

“Fuck yes.” Cameron moans as she takes the bottle and presses a soft kiss to Reyna’s forehead. “What are you guys doing out here?”

“Didn’t want to wake Bella up with the conversation we’re about to have.” Sofiá shrugs as she flickers her eyes towards a silent Penelope. “It’s about Josie.”

Penelope goes rigid, “What? What happened? Was there another attack? Was she hurt? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“Relax. She’s fine. I guess.” Sofiá frowns as she waves off the comment. “Honestly? I don’t know and I don’t care right now because I think your precious princess might be the one who caused what happened tonight.”

“Excuse me?”

“Real subtle of a blow there, Sof.” Reyna grumbles as she turns her gaze to Penelope and softens. “Isabella...Isabella saw Josie in that shadow, Penelope. It freaked her out. That’s why she was pretty much out of it when Sofiá brought her back.”

“No. You’re wrong.”

“Penelope, relax.” Reyna orders as she rubs at her forehead. “No one is accusing Josie of anything, Isabella is just saying that the thing _looked_ like her.”

“Which is essentially accusing her.” Penelope scoffs as she begins to pace. “We all saw what that thing was it, it was just a fucking puff of smoke. Josie is a whole ass human.”

Cameron wipes a hand over her mouth, “I don’t know, Penelope. She’s been weird. You and I both know that. It would explain a lot of things concerning her behavior.”

“She would’ve talked to me…”

“I don’t think she would’ve, little witch.” Sofiá whispers. “Josie hasn’t been talking to any of us for weeks, she’s been off. We can’t keep acting like she’s okay.”

Penelope shakes her head, “Has anyone texted Hope? Lizzie? Made sure that they’re okay? Where are they?”

“I texted Hope, but she didn’t answer and then I called Lizzie, they’re in her dorm. Lizzie said Hope has been passed out.” Reyna replies as she glances at her watch. “We might as well go crash there.”

Sofiá hesitates, “Isabella?”

“Carry her.” Cameron orders.

“We can’t just shelf this conversation…”

“We are. For right now.” Cameron snaps as she looks to Penelope. “Once we’ve regrouped, we can talk about this.”

“No! What about Josie?” Penelope demands.

“As of right now, Josie isn’t a part of my pack. She’s a danger to us.” Cameron replies, her tone deadly serious. “As far as I’m considered she’s not one of us right now.”

“What the _fuck,_ Cameron?” Penelope exclaims as her eyes go wide. “You can’t just exile her. She needs us!”

“Penelope.” Sofiá warns.

“She’s in danger too!” Penelope yells.

Cameron turns with a snarl, “Josie isn’t my concern, the rest of you are. The only thing that I’m worried about is this pack right here and nothing else until we know what’s going on, do you understand me?”

Penelope cowers significantly, “But…”

“You and Isabella got hurt…” Cameron lingers over Penelope, her eyes yellow and her teeth snapping slightly. “I’m not going to let you guys get hurt again. If that makes Josie the current enemy then so be it.”

“Fine.” Penelope whispers.

Reyna pulls Cameron back by her shirt, “You made your point, macho man. Go walk ahead of us. Cool the fuck down.”

Cameron turns on her heel to do as Reyna has instructed and leaves Penelope to drop into Reyna’s side as they set off for Hope’s dorm.

-

_Hope feels restless. The room feels like it’s shrinking around her, and she is quick to sit up in what she expects to be her bed but it isn’t. No, Hope wakes up and looks around to see that she is in a study. The books are haphazardly tossed off the shelf and and furniture is overturned, and she can feel the uneasy ache settle low in her gut as she swallows hard. With ease, Hope pulls herself to her feet as she begins to patter through the destruction till she hears a weak call for help and her senses perk. Hope desperately ducks and looks through overturned bookshelves till she spots a spill of blonde locks and pinpoints the familiar call for help._

_“Lizzie?”_

_“Hope?”_

_Hope vaults over a shelf, “I got you. Give me a second. I’m going to get you out of there, okay? Just give me a second.”_

_“Hope, it hurts.” Lizzie whimpers._

_“Okay, Lizzie. Just...hold on.” Hope pleads as she urgently tugs at the shelf. “Fuck. Just give me a second, this is heavy.”_

_Finally, the wood gives way and Lizzie is able to scoot her way free from beneath the wreckage. Immediately, Hope drops the shelf and falls to her knees beside Lizzie as she tries to look her over for any damage. All she can see is a small cut and she reaches for it only for Lizzie to whimper and pull back as she scrambles to her feet. Hope follows and once again reaches out to finally catch Lizzie by the biceps as she frantically looks her over and breathes a sigh of relief when she realizes that she’s okay. She opens her mouth to express her relief, but she falls silent as a soft palm settles against her lips and she glances up and meets hardened eyes that seem so sad._

_“I’ll never love you.”_

_The words wash over her and Hope is confused for a moment, confused until the words seem to hit her straight in the heart. It’s like all the unseen moments become obvious as she shakes her head and tries to undo what has been done. With a hum, Hope pulls away from Lizzie’s touch and looks her over with a sense of urgency. No, this can’t be the same girl who she’s been getting close with over the last few months. This can’t be the same girl who laughs with her over stupid things like TikToks and Landon’s attempts at flirting. This can’t be the same girl who she almost shared a kiss with after they snuck into the kitchen to make sloppy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at four in the morning._

_Hope whimpers at the words, “Don’t say that.”_

_“I’m sorry.” Lizzie whispers as she takes a small step back. “You don’t deserve me, and I deserve to be happy. You’ll never be enough.”_

_“So, you’re just going to lock yourself away and wait for whatever good you’re talking about? No. That isn’t you.” Hope scoffs. “You deserve to be happy, and I can make you happy.”_

_“You can’t even make yourself happy.” Lizzie frowns as she steps into the room and braces her hand against the doorknob. “Goodbye, Hope. I’m so sorry.”_

_“Lizzie, no…”_

_“Please. Leave me alone.” Lizzie begs as she slams the door shut._

_“No.” Hope hisses as she shoves against the door. “No! Lizzie, you open this door! You don’t get to shut me out!”_

_“Oh, but she isn’t. She’s mine now.”_

_The voice is so soft, but leaks with malice. Drips with anger. Holds so many threats. A cold chill runs down Hope’s spine as she steps away from the door for a moment and stares at it. After a minute more, her shaking hand reaches out and turns the knob with ease so she can open it up to reveal what’s waiting on the other side. Lizzie, her beautiful Lizzie, stands before her with black eyes and a smile that leaks poison. Hope figures she’s supposed to be scared, and she knows she’s supposed to step back when a claw sweeps through the air and tries to catch her but she doesn’t move. The talon glides right through her body and she notices the surprise that dances across Lizzie’s face._

_“You’re not real.” Hope hisses. “You aren’t her.”_

_“Hope.”_

_Hope swallows hard as the darkness disappears and soft eyes return, “You aren’t her. You aren’t real. This isn’t real.”_

_“Hope, please. You have to help me.”_

_“You aren’t real.” Hope repeats, and her voice is twinged with sadness. “Wake up, Hope. Wake the fuck up!”_

_Lizzie screams, loud and piercing. Her face twists and her eyes blare with anger, and suddenly Hope isn’t sure what she’s seeing. Or who she’s seeing. The thing runs at Hope, but Hope simply stands there and screams just as loud as the noise that pours from the demon. She screams until her throat feels raw. Pleads with herself to wake up. Her eyes slam shut as she slams her palms against her forehead and struggles to free herself of this horrible dream. And then it goes silent. Everything is quiet, and she slowly opens her eyes._

_And she wishes she never did._

_Hope blinks and sees nothing but smoke and fire. The forest around her is decimated and all she can hear in her ears is white noise. It takes a second for her to realize she’s in a dream because it feels that real._

_“Do you see how strong we are?” A voice whispers in her head. “Look at what we’ve done.”_

_Hope shakes her head to clear it and with it sound it her ears start to flood back. She hears crying and instinctively turns her head in the direction of the sound. She finds that it’s a familiar cry._ _Penelope is just in front of her, on her hands and knees, crawling towards a smoldering body on the ground and Hope is sick to see that it’s Cameron._

_“Cameron, please, you have to get up, Cameron please!” Penelope cries, her hands pushing in vain at Cameron’s chest. All the motion does is force Cameron’s head to lull to the side and lets Hope see the gruesome burns running down the side of her face._

_“What’s happening?” Hope hears Josie’s whimper but she doesn’t see Josie in front of her._

_“We won.” The voice hisses again, “They tried to kill us and we won.”_

_Hope shakes as she surveys the scene fully. Just behind Penelope’s still crying form is two more bodies both so burnt to a crisp that Hope doesn’t even know who they are. In the center of the clearing she can clearly make out herself, her hand still clutching a knife to her gut._

_“You have to stop her!” Hope’s dead body tells her, blood seeping from her lips and coating her teeth._

_“No we didn’t- I wouldn’t do this.” Josie stammers, shaking her head. It's then that Hope can finally see her._

_Josie’s on her knees in front of Penelope but it’s like Penelope can’t hear her as she continues to cry over Cameron’s body. The most worrying of all is the shadowy figure hanging over Josie’s body. Hope tries to move her feet, to help, to get Penelope to safety but it’s like her legs are rooted to the ground._

_“You did,” The voice purrs, “You were so strong. You survived the merge.”_

Hope awakes with a start, yanked back to reality by a hand on her wrist.

“Are you okay?” Penelope asks. “I thought Lizzie would at least wake you up to let you know we were on our way.”

Hope rises to her feet shakily, the vestiges of her dream still clinging to her. Suddenly it was all starting to make sense and she realizes with startling clarity that every dream she’d had this past week had been warnings. Warnings that she’d ignored in her own arrogance. She’d thought they were just about her feelings for Lizzie but she now sees how wrong that’d been, especially since said feelings had been discussed and worked on. 

“Woah,” Cameron calls, standing up now too, “Hope are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.” 

Hope tries to shake off Cameron’s steadying hand but finds that it’s the only thing keeping her standing. 

“We’re not safe.” Hope whispers, her voice shaking as she smells the remains of fire and charred flesh. “Where’s Lizzie?”

“She went to go change.” Reyna replies in a slow, worried tone. “She refused to let any of us go with her. Apparently, only one person is allowed to see her in a state of undress.”

Hope flushes at the thought, “And Josie?”

“We don’t know.” Penelope snaps as she flashes a quick glance to Cameron. “What’s going on, Hope?”

“They’re not safe.” Hope says again, “My dreams were warnings. There’s a demon here and it’s going to hurt all of us if we don’t stop it.” 

“You’re scaring me.” Reyna mutters, “What the fuck are you talking about? You sound...” 

“Don’t call me crazy.” Hope hisses, running her hands through her hair. She finally has the strength to push against Cameron’s steadying hands and separates herself from being surrounded by the pack. It gives her the space to breathe and assess.

“Then start talking.” Penelope says, “This isn’t a fucking joke.”

Isabella shifts slowly, “Give her a second.”

“Look, I think someone summoned a demon…”

“Fuck. She really did it.” Sofiá breathes out as she looks nervously to Reyna. “She really summoned a demon.”

“No.” Penelope growls. “She didn’t.”

“I think it was Josie.” Hope scoffs.

“Think or know?” Reyna asks skeptically.

“Josie didn’t summon a demon!” Penelope snaps, “It’s just a fucking dream, Hope!” 

“It’s not! Lizzie isn’t safe!” Hope nearly screams, the veins in her neck bulging, “We have to get to her...” 

“Josie would never hurt her sister!” Penelope counters just as vehemently, anger radiating off her in waves now. The rest of the pack idles behind them, their eyes bouncing back and forth between the two girls wearily. 

”You don't know that for sure! Josie’s been changing right before our eyes for who knows how long now! I know you’ve all seen it.” Hope hisses. The wolves all shuffle, none of them disagree with her assessment. “I get that you love her but that doesn’t change the fact that _someone_ , more than likely Josie, summoned a fucking dark magic demon! This was all a part of the plan don’t you see?”

Penelope scoffs, “The merge shit again? Alaric already said it was bullshit, Hope! It’s not true.” 

Even as she says it, she gets a sinking feeling in her gut because she knows Hope is right. She knew from the moment that it was revealed what Isabella saw, she knew exactly what was happening. She knew from the beginning that there was a possibility that she was wrong for putting her trust in Alaric but for once in her life she would have liked to be able to trust an adult in her life. The alternative would have been too much to handle. 

Hope’s sympathetic smile is still cutting, “You believed him? You’re smarter than that, Penelope. He was lying so you all wouldn’t worry. Freya told me he was still searching for more information, that he came to her.” 

“Why didn’t you say something?” Penelope demands.

Because, in her eyes, somehow taking out her fear and worry on Hope is easier than accepting that she’d let herself be lulled into some false sense of security and now there was a very real chance she could lose the love of her life. The scariest part was that she didn’t even know _how_ she could lose Josie because if there was anything this past week had taught her, it was that there were some things worse than death.

“I didn’t want to believe it either.” Hope tells her slowly, “I’ve been having dreams but I just...I just thought they were dreams.” She swallows harshly as they all float into her mind’s eye. Lizzie’s face, Lizzie’s voice, distorted and stained. “If my dreams are right,” Hope shakes her head as the words fizzle out in her throat, “ _Nobody_ is safe.” 

“Dreams?” Isabella pipes up, taking a step closer to Hope, “What kind of dreams?” 

Hope looks between the pack, all of them staring at her expectantly. She contemplates not telling the truth, the feelings for Lizzie were hers and hers alone and the last thing she wanted was judgement, but she knows she can trust them. They’ve more than shown her they cared for her as a person and not for what she can do as a witch. 

“I dream about Lizzie.” Hope says, “Lizzie dying or in danger and it’s enough to be an omen.”

“You really think it’s going to hurt people?” Isabella asks with a frown.

“If this demon is what I think it is then yes.” Hope nods, “There’s a book in the West library that I’m pretty sure has…”

Whatever Hope was about to say is cut off by an almighty roar that shakes the walls of the cafeteria. The entire group goes on the defensive. Cameron reaches an arm back for Penelope protectively while the rest of the girls form an almost circle around her. Hope’s hand catches Reyna’s shoulder and Isabella moves closer to her.

“What the fuck is that…?” Cameron mutters. 

Their answer materializes up from the dorm room floor. It takes a very real corporal form and strikes fear into each and every one of them. The demon stands before them at least seven feet tall, padded with armor that looks ancient and metallic. On its breastplate is a carved pentagram. The most chilling is the vacant eyes filled with literal fire. It takes no time for everyone to figure out that this is the demon that’s been summoned. It roars again, the fire in it’s empty eyes blazing and takes a swing with its massive broadsword. The vampires narrowly move in time. 

“Go!” Cameron shouts at Reyna and Hope, her and Sofia taking the front line in front of the demon, “Find the book!” 

Reyna hesitates for only a moment before she pulls Hope back towards the end of the cafeteria they’d been heading in before the demon had appeared before them. Hope pushes back against her. 

“Go,” Penelope tells her, “You’d better not be wrong, Mikaelson.” She locks eyes with Hope and a moment exchanges between them before Hope nods slowly.

“Alright ladies,” Sofia smirks as Cameron bounces on the tips of her toes, “Let’s take this bitch down.” 

-

“Where are we going?” Reyna asks Hope even as she follows Hope through the halls. 

“There’s a book of dark magic somewhere in the hidden library.” Hope tells her as they run, “I can see the cover and the page but I don’t know exactly where it’s at.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Reyna groans. “You really think Josie summoned this thing?” 

Hope only smiles sadly. “I don’t want her to have summoned this anymore than you guys do.” 

They run through two more corridors, the only sound around them is quick breathes and the squeak of their shoes. They make it to the library in the west hallway and Reyna makes quick work of locking the door and shoving a chair in front of it to stop anything from coming in; the library is ominously quiet. It’s still destroyed, the remains of the fighter earlier that night evident in the turned over bookshelves and split books.

“What are we looking for again?” Reyna whispers because breaking the silence seems like something she shouldn’t do. 

Hope doesn’t verbally respond. She trails her fingers along the old wooden shelving and whispers an incantation under her breath. Several books fly off the shelf, all from different areas of the aisle. 

“Its name starts with V and ends in A that’s all I remember from my dream.” Hope tells Reyna, handing her a book. 

Reyna whines. “I’m dyslexic.”

-

Cameron hits the ground and slides a few hundred feet to come crashing to a stop at the cafeteria door. They managed to lure the demon out of the dorms, away from the slumbering clueless students. They know that if they go down, they aren’t taking innocent lives with them. This is their fight, their fight in an effort to save one of their own. They found themselves in the cafeteria and had intended to lead him out of school entirely, but Sofiá had gotten a little too swing happy and they were now forced to take him out in this room.

“Guys I think we’re losing.” Cameron manages to garble out around a cough. 

Penelope spares a look back at her, her hands outstretched as she tried any and every spell under the sun to stop the demon. Sofiá had made her speed and strength useful by keeping it busy and distracted enough not to go after Penelope but Isabella was standing right next to her just in case, adding her own magical strength to the frey where she could. 

Penelope grunts, “Yeah I agree!”

Sofiá slips up and the demon lands a sickening punch to her torso that has her landing in front of Penelope and Isabella. 

“I think…” She wheezes and blood spills from her líps, “I think that punctured a lung.”

“We’re retreating now, let’s go!” Cameron calls as she gets to her feet. Her vision is a little blurred but she manages to punch the locked cafeteria door open. Isabella pulls Sofiá into her arms bridal style and lets Penelope run to Cameron first.

The demon roars and swings it’s blade but let’s them escape. 

-

“None of these are it.” Hope groans in frustration, tossing the final book away with the rest of the pile. 

“How do you know?” Reyna asks, “What if…?” She stops suddenly, her head perking up and shifting to the side. “Something’s coming.” She grabs Hopes wrist and yanks her back behind a few stacks. 

“It has to be somewhere.” Hope whispers distractedly, “Where would they keep a book about summoning demons? Why wouldn’t it be in the demon section of the library?”

“Why would it?” Reyna counters, her voice hushed was her eyes stay glued to the only entrance of the library. “Anyone would have access to it. It’s probably locked up somewhere safe. Or it _was_ safe.”

Hope gasp in realization, “It’s in Alaric’s private office! We have to…”

The chair in front of the door explodes across the room in a smattering of wood and sawdust. Reyna shields Hope behind her. 

“Stay behind me.” Reyna hisses. 

“Hello?”

Reyna and Hope both freeze as the familiar voice pokes into the library. 

“Is anyone in here?” The voice walks further in and Reyna almost sighs in relief at the sight of Josie walking into the library. She’s just about to call out when a hand slips over her mouth and drags her further back into the shadows. 

“It’s not her.” Hope’s voice hisses in her ear almost inaudibly. 

Reyna fights against her pack instinct to get to Josie and decides for once in her life to be patient. She watches as Josie surveys the room, her eyes passing over them but still not seeing, before her body starts to shift. It’s almost quiet save for the wishing of air and sudden clang of metal armor. Reyna’s hand slaps over Hope’s against her mouth to muffle her gasp. Where Josie had once stood now stands the demon from the cafeteria. It does one more survey of the room before slinking back out the door, the glint of a massive axe on it’s back shining in the half light. 

“Holy fuck.” Reyna pants, hands on her knees once she can’t hear the demon anymore and pulls herself from Hope’s grip. “Holy fuck Josie’s a demon.”

“I fucking told you!”

-

They catch up to the rest of the pack near the dorm rooms. 

“It’s Josie.” Reyna says shakily, her breath coming out quicker than normal. Cameron is quick to get to her, her hands cupping Reyna’s cheeks and giving her a once over. “I saw it.”

“What are you talking about?” Sofiá demands but she gets to Reyna just as worriedly. 

“We saw her shift in the library.” Hope informs them. “I'm sorry, Pen.” 

Penelope stares at them open mouthed, “Why would she…?” 

“It’s the merge,” Hope tells her, “It was destined, you know that.” 

“Bullshit!” Penelope explodes, “There’s no way in hell we’re losing either Saltzman tonight. Not Josie, not Lizzie, hell not even Alaric! We’re going to figure this out or die trying.” 

Cameron blanches at that, “Okay, wait I don’t want to die…”

“Or die trying!” Penelope repeats with a firm glare. 

“Where’s the book?” Isabella asks, the only one with a level head. 

Hope shakes her head, “We think it might be in Alaric’s office.” 

“Which makes sense because Josie would have had access to it.” Isabella notes with a small frown.

Penelope only stares at them in resignation and horror, “Josie really summoned a demon.” 

“But why?” Cameron demands, “Is she trying to kill her sister or what?” 

Hope shrugs, “I don’t know the whole merge curse. Only what I’ve overheard. Nothing ever good comes out of summoning a demon. It could have tricked her into summoning it.” 

“We should move.” Reyna says suddenly, “I hear something coming.”

“ _Oh, Reyna. If only your ears heard as far as you can open your legs…_ ”

The voice is a little off, a little disembodied but it’s still Josie.

“Watch your fucking mouth.” Cameron snarls as Josie’s form steps into the hall. 

She looks more terrible than they all remember last seeing her; her cheeks are sunken, dark shadows under her eyes and her eyes don’t even look human. There’s nothing but darkness staring back at them. The inky pools of it drip into the veins of the once rosey apples of Josie’s cheeks. Even her body appears weaker, her ribs push through the material of her shirt and her stomach is bloated with obvious hunger. Penelope claps a hand over her mouth as tears build in her eyes, and she wants so badly to rush to her girlfriend; she just wants to take her away from all of this, protect her forever.

“ _That’s cute.”_ Josie’s possessed voice laughs, “ _Why so protective? Scared she’ll leave you once she finds out the worthless alpha you actually are?”_

Cameron hunches forward in anticipation of a charge, another snarl ripping from her throat. 

“Josie. Stop.” Penelope says, throat thickening with tears, “This isn’t you.”

Josie’s eyes float in her direction and a faint smile creases her lips. “ _She favors you a lot. But you bring her pain.”_

Sofiá takes a running lunge to attack but Josie knocks her against the wall with a flick of magic. 

“ _Where is she_?” Josie demands, her eyes on Hope. 

Hope turns up her chin. 

Josie laughs lightly, “ _Your loyalty is admirable_.” 

Her form shifts and elongates and in a puff of smoke the demon is back. The smell of sulfur and smoke fills the air around them. 

“ _But futile_.” 

The sword is back again and the swing scatters them like a group of roaches when the lights get flicked on. 

“We have to find the book!” Hope screams as Cameron charges the demon with Reyna at her side. 

“We have to split up,” Isabella says suddenly, “It can’t get us all at once.”

Reyna and Cameron do a good job distracting it as Hope and Penelope duck and dodge around it and take off down the hallway. Cameron takes the opportunity to slide between the demons legs and makes it to Hope and Penelope. 

“Baby, come on!” Cameron shouts. 

Reyna tries to speed past it but the demon blocks her at every turn, “I can’t!”

Cameron whines in distress but Penelope tugs her forward, Hope already thirty feet in front of them, “She’ll be okay. Let’s go.”

Reyna runs back to Sofiá and Isabella and the two groups split up. The demon chases after Reyna, Sofiá, and Isabella and the trio do their best to dodge its blows. Sofiá feels the annoyance hit her as she turns and pushes off a locker before she skids across the tiles to land a kick in the demon’s knee. As soon as his form is teetering, Reyna is soaring and her arms curl around his neck as she forces him backwards while Sofiá slams continuous knees into his stomach in an effort to bring him down. As soon as they feel just a little victorious, a hand grapples for Reyna and she whimpers in horror as she is yanked off and thrown carelessly behind the demon.

“Well, fuck me…” Sofiá breathes out.

Isabella grapples for her girlfriend, “We gotta go!”

“We lost Reyna!”

“She’ll go back to Cameron!” Isabella calls over her shoulder. “Baby, we can’t go back for her. We gotta go, we need to find Hope. We’ll regroup soon.”

Sofiá shakes her head, “I can’t leave her…”

“We have to, Sof.” Isabella pleads as she tugs hard at Sofiá’s hand. “I don’t want to have to keep leaving them, but we need to spread out. He can’t get all of us if we’re apart.”

“I don’t like this.” Sofiá snarls as she allows herself to be pulled along. “We’re stronger together, we shouldn’t be apart. What if one of us gets hurt?”

“We all have someone with us, Sofiá. We’re not alone.” Isabella assures her as they race around a corner. 

“Marry me.”

Isabella skids to a stop, “What the _fuck?_ ”

“Was that not romantic?” Sofiá frowns as she pauses beside her girlfriend. “Because I’ve watched enough movies to know that proposing in life or death situations is supposed to be romantic. So, swoon.”

“Why the fuck would I swoon? We’re literally running from a demon that is technically our best friend, Sof!” Isabella exclaims. “You couldn’t have picked a worse time to propose.”

“I mean, I _could_ have. Like, last week. When you were throwing up after that party.” Sofiá shrugs. “I could’ve asked then. Or when you got a splinter in your ass because you scratched your butt on a tree. Or when you accidentally fucked up a spell and shot a booger out of your nose. Or when you tripped and…”

“Alright. I get it. I embarrass myself.” Isabella mumbles with a blush.

“You don’t _embarrass_ yourself. It’s cute.” Sofiá assures her. “Everything about you is cute. I didn’t know it was possible to tolerate someone so much. I didn’t think I’d ever wake up every morning ready to see someone, ready to glue myself to their side. I never thought I’d be excited at the potential of forever.”

Isabella tilts her head, “Babe…”

“I’ve wanted to propose to you for like a month. I bought the ring.” Sofiá admits. “I’ve planned it out, right down to the seven hours worth of celebration sex we’re going to have. I-I just had everything thought out, but I didn’t think about _this._ I didn’t plan this.”

“No one planned this, Sof.” Isabella reminds her with a roll of her eyes. “And, as sweet as this is, we really can’t stay mobile for long.”

Sofiá steps towards her girlfriend and cups her face with a stern frown, “I would appreciate an answer, madam.”

“If we survive this, ask me again…”

“ _What_?”

“You’ve seen enough movies.” Isabella teases as she pulls away and begins to back up. “You should know that you don’t get to hear the answer right away.”

Sofiá shakes her head as Isabella races off, “I guess that’s fair.”

-

“Hope?” Reyna calls out in a whisper yell.

The room is dark and silent and Reyna gets the feeling she’s maybe in the wrong place. Even if she can still hear a heartbeat. The wolf favors her right side as she feels her left side slowly sliding its bones back into place, feels her lacerations stitching themselves back together. A growl of pain leaves her and she slams a hand against the wall as she tries to control the anger that thrums through her. The heartbeat in the room speeds up and Reyna pauses for a moment, the last thing she needs is to take care of some pimple riddled teenager who snuck out of bed for a late night snack.

“Who’s there?” Reyna demands, “I can hear your heart.”

Lizzie steps out of the shadows, a dagger in her hands at the ready. There’s nothing but suspicion on her face. “You here to kill me?”

Reyna blinks, “What? No? I’m looking for Hope.”

Lizzie steps forward quickly, “Is she okay?”

“The last I saw her she was running from a demon who was summoned by your sister and is possessing her.” Reyna says flatly, “So, it depends what your version of okay is.”

Lizzies face goes on a journey before she settles on something resigned and indignant, “Josie’s trying to kill me. Whatever she’s done is making her stronger I can feel it.”

“Did you know much about the merge?”

“That discussion we had in Josie’s dorm that night is all I know.” Lizzie replies. “I just...I had this dream a few days ago that Josie tried to kill me, and I know it’s coming true. I just didn’t think it’d get this far, not after our talk with our dad.”

“Yeah? Well, daddy lied.” Reyna drawls. “We all got split up, but you’re stuck with me now. Can’t leave you here to get shanked.”

Lizzie eyes her skeptically, “How do I know you’re not helping her? She’s your pack.”

“I would’ve snapped your neck the second I walked through the door if I wanted to actually kill you.” Reyna mumbles, but her expression softens slowly. “You’re pack, Lizzie. We meant that, alright?”

Lizzie’s eyes glisten for a moment as she slaps her hand in Reyna’s, “We have to get out of the school. It’s like the demon is using Josie’s memories and it has a home field advantage.”

Reyna puffs out a breath, “I’ll be glad when this shit is over.”

Lizzie tugs her violently, “That means one of us is dead.”

Reyna’s face falls, “I didn’t mean…”

Lizzie rolls her eyes, “Come on, I know a place we can go.”

-

Cameron, Penelope and Hope dash through the halls and make it to Alaric’s office without trouble. It kind of amazes them how easy it is, how simple it was to make their way across campus. It gives them enough time to think, enough time to consider if it’s time to bring Alaric into this. But what will he provide? More lies? More danger for the twins? No. Both Penelope and Hope share a quick glance somewhere along their escape and decide that the only ones who will protect their girls is the measly pack they have.

“Do you have the key?” Hope asks Penelope. 

Penelope stares at her like she’s stupid, “Why would I have the key?” 

“I don’t know! You always have things you shouldn’t.” 

Penelope opens her mouth but doesn’t get to respond before Cameron’s running between them and kicking the door clean off its hinges. 

“Find the fucking book.” Cameron hisses, “So I can find the rest of my pack. I don’t like being separated.” 

Penelope and Hope both stare at each other in mild shock before they both nod and file into the room. It’s larger than an office should be and even though one side of the wall is covered with books, Hope starts pulling them out without a second thought. 

“It’s a dark magic book,” Hope informs Penelope. “If it doesn’t have the seal of the dark mark on it, toss it. If it does, the demons name starts with a V.” 

Cameron keeps her spot at the door, her head constantly twisting back and forth to watch both ends of the hallway. 

“How do you know this?” Penelope asks, tossing a rather thick looking book covered in dust to the ground.

“I kept seeing it in my dreams.” Hope informs her. 

Penelope is quiet for a second. “Hope, how long have you known this was going to happen?” Her voice is carefully neutral but Hope can only imagine the thoughts spinning in her head. 

“I didn’t know what they were at first.” She tells Penelope quietly. It’s for nothing because Cameron can still hear her no matter how quietly she speaks. “I...I have feelings for Lizzie. I thought it was just that but then they started getting darker and my warning signs were in them. By the time I realized they were omens, Josie had already summoned the demon.”

“You know what I don’t get,” Cameron pipes in and Hope flushes at the confirmation that Cameron has indeed heard everything she’d just said. “Why would Josie summon this demon?”

Penelope comes up with a thousand answers in her head and Hope comes up with a thousand more. Even Cameron has a few to offer but whatever answer or response either one of them can come up with is cut off by a faint roar and the pounding of footsteps. Cameron’s head shoots right and her eyes narrow as she looks down the hallway to see a flash of black.

“Uh oh! We got incoming!” She steps backwards into the room and picks up the fallen door, murmuring a distressed, “I shouldn’t have kicked this down.”

“Move, bitch!” Sofiá pants.

Isabella is quick to rush into the room, “Need help?”

“Hurry up!”

Isabella says something sarcastic, something that has Sofiá cackling, but Penelope couldn’t care less. She hears a wet explosion and her head whips around to see Cameron flipping off something down the hall as she struggles to put the door back up. Isabella is beside her a moment later and she’s ripping through the books, her movements fluid and hurried as she scans titles over. With a hard swallow, Penelope glances over her shoulder once more and finds Sofiá and Cameron trading a high five as they struggle to keep the fallen door in place.

“Oh! Look!” Hope says, “This is the book on dream demons.” 

Penelope crowds around her as they read the book, “And?”

“None of these is it.” Hope notes with a severe frown as she flips another couple of pages.

“What does that mean?” Penelope asks around a frown, the demon pounding at the door quakes the walls. 

“Guys,” Cameron calls around a grunt, her hands pressing hard enough against the wood that everyone can see her shirt stretch taught around her muscles with the effort. 

“Hurry the fuck up!” Sofiá shouts before she can, her hands pressed against the other side of the door. Even with their combined strength it looked like they were rapidly losing the fight against the door.

“That it’s not a dream demon. It’s a truth demon,” Hope reads quickly. “It gets its power from all the lies. If...well, if we tell the truth it takes away its power?”

“But what kind of truths? What are we lying about?” Isabella frowns in confusion. She hands over another book to Hope, thick and dusty. She favors one leg over the other and Penelope helps her carry the bulky book and drop it on the table.

Hope spins the pages rapidly before settling on one, “Here! Here! This is it!”

The page is covered in a cloud of dust but Hope swipes it away, “It’s called The Veritas…”

“That’s Latin for the truth.” Isabella pipes in, reading over her shoulder.

Hope nods, “They used him in the dark ages for torturing and exposing the secrets of the castors enemies.”

“But why would Josie summon him?” Penelope asks hotly, “This thing…” The wood starts to splinter and Cameron’s face narrowly misses the blade of the Veritas axe swinging into it. “I feel like it’s getting stronger!”

“It could just be the full moon approaching.” Isabella notes. “Oh no.” Her face pales several shades and Hope and Penelope both turn to look at her. “We got it wrong. It’s not twenty two. It’s eighteen.” 

Her hand raises shakily to the large picture window behind the headmaster’s desk and to the moon beginning to crest in the sky. Already the horizon has turned a stark blood red. Hope turns back to the book and skims the pages at almost lightening speed, heart pounding in her chest. It’s all there, every lie Alaric has told is suddenly in front of them and they’re realizing that their clock is slowly running out.

“How do you confuse twenty two and eighteen?” 

Hope looks up from the book and glares back at Penelope who goes wide eyed, “I didn’t translate the damn thing! The ink was probably smudged!”

“Not the time!” Cameron practically roars from the door, her face beet red as she barely hangs onto the door with Sofiá.

“This changes everything! The demons probably using her because it knows how powerful she’s going to be and it can break out of hell!” 

For a moment the pounding stops. They all get one second to breath and look up before the Veritas roars loud enough to shake the glass of the window. The girls finally lose their battle in keeping the door sealed; a nasty split right down the middle by the Veritas axe sends Cameron and Sofiá to the ground with a puff of wood chips and sawdust in its wake. Isabella immediately goes on the defense and casts a freezing spell, Penelope and Hope joining her after a moment of stunned silence. Veritas snarls but doesn’t move forward; the spell would have kept it completely immobile on any normal creature but with its host power increasing by the second, it’s still able to jerk and slash it’s axe.

“Get out of here!” Isabella calls as she flashes a look to Penelope and Hope. “He’s too strong, we can’t hold him for long.”

Cameron coughs and shakes her head from the ground like she’s trying to clear the stars from her vision. One of her hands absently reaches out to grab Sofiá, finding purchase and grip on her shoulder while she tries to army crawl them towards the witches. Sofiá gurgles out a pained groan when Cameron tugs her back, her hands going to her gut where a large piece of wood was sticking out of her stomach. 

“Fuck me. This hurts.” Sofiá moans, kicking back too with her legs. Each movement sends the splintered off bit of door shifting to tear at her insides. 

“Suck it up,” Cameron grunts, pulling them both to their feet now with her alpha strength. “Deep breathe in...three, two…”

Sofiá howls as Cameron yanks the piece of wood free and throws it to the ground. Sofiá spits blood onto Cameron’s boots but instantly starts to feel better as her vampire healing starts to stitch her organs back together. Isabella watches her closely, her eyes wide with concern as she tries to split her attention between her spell and her girlfriend. It feels like they’re fighting a losing battle, and no one really knows where to go from here.

“Bitch.” Sofiá gasps out.

“Just wait.” Cameron chuckles as she speeds herself and Sofiá across the room and uses Sofiá’s body to break through the glass window.

“Wow.” Sofiá coughs. “You’re a prick.”

Cameron snorts and smacks a kiss on her forehead before putting her down on the ground under a tree and speeding back to the girls. She’s back in a blink with all three witches in her arms while Veritas roars in fury at their escape. Cameron had used her strength and speed to get them as far into the forest and out of sight as she could. She runs until she feels like she’s out of breath, as if it were possible. She runs and feels her wolf whimper in fear as she realizes exactly who she’s running from; she’s leaving her mate in that building with a demon.

“We gotta get to Lizzie.” Hope says around a pant. 

Penelope nods in agreement as she moves to look Sofiá over while she follows Hope’s line of sight and sees her watching the way the moon cuts through the trees. Around them, the trees begin to turn blood red in an effort to match the horizon that crests into position in the sky. They have such a short time before the moon is full, before both twins are at their maximum strength. It’s like an hourglass, each moment is a bead of sand that lets them know that time is running out on them.

“It’s almost time.” Hope whispers.

Cameron lets out a faint whine and flaps her hand, “You guys go, I’ll catch up. My head is killing me.” 

“Whoa.” Isabella breathes out as she is quick to catch her alpha. “Relax. We’re not going anywhere without you.”

Veritas finally breaks through the back wall of the building, the bricks and fixture of it exploding around the ground. Cameron can’t help but wonder how much it’s going to cost to fix all of this, and she sincerely hopes she gets some fucking medal for living through this. With a breath of relief, she realizes that the demon doesn’t spot them immediately but it wouldn’t be long before he did if they don’t move. 

“It’s a concussion.” Penelope frowns as she cups Cameron’s face to look her over. “If you were a human, you’d be dead.”

“You’re welcome.”

Cameron smiles grimly though it’s tired around the edges. They’d been running and fighting for almost the entire day and it was starting to wear them all down. Suddenly she’s doubling over in pain, a low growl coming out of her throat as her yelp of pain tapers off. When she looks back up her eyes are bright gold. 

“We have to find Reyna.”

-

“What’s so special about this spot?” Reyna asks as she kicks around a small rock. The sky had turned a frightening red and Lizzie was starting to look a little pale around the edges. Especially once she’d started rummaging around in the bushes.

Lizzie pulls out a medium sized tweed sack and grins in triumph, “This.” 

Reyna eyes her curiously, “What is it?” 

“Salt.” 

Reyna snorts, “What the fucks that going to do? Cook the demon.” 

Lizzie stares at her flatly, “You really need to pay more attention in class. A demon summoned from hell can’t cross a line of salt. No spirit can.” 

Reyna kicks the rock a little harder than necessary, “Can we use it to keep it in too?” 

Lizzie frowns, “I mean yes but why would we want to keep it in?” 

“We have to kill it.” Reyna says seriously. 

“You said it was possessing my sister.” Lizzie reminds her hotly, “You’re not going to kill it and risk killing her too.” 

“I-I didn’t think of that.” Reyna admits sheepishly. 

Lizzie goes about creating a line of salt in the shape of a circle, her eyebrows twisted into her patented scowl, “I know she’s caused a big ass ruckus but she’s still my sister.” 

“A ruckus?” Reyna snorts, “Is that all you think she’s done? She almost killed all of us!” 

“Whatever, we’re not all without faults.” Lizzie responds easily because she’d done some pretty unredeemable things herself and they’d all forgiven her, “Now are you gonna help me or what? It needs to be bigger.” 

Reyna rolls her eyes and crunches through the leaves and dirt to grab a fistful of salt. They get the circle done before Reyna hears it. It’s like a pack of horses gaining on them, a faint roar of what Reyna is sure is the demon coming for them behind it. 

“Get in your circle.” Reyna demands, her body hunching forward and taking a defense stance. 

Lizzie for once listens without complaint and hops over the line of salt and into the center of her circle. It’s hard for Reyna to mute out the sound of her frightened heart but when she does, she’s able to hear four more. Thankfully, they’re a lot more familiar. She doesn’t get to tell Lizzie that it’s okay before Cameron’s wolf form breaks through the treeline and beelines straight for her. Reyna’s fingers wind through the silky fur behind Cameron’s ears, barely has to bend to reach with how massive the form of Cameron’s wolf is. 

“I’m okay, baby. Promise.” 

Cameron exhales out a sharp breath and in two beats of her powerful heart, she’s switching back into herself. “I was so worried.” She breathes, her hands cupping Reyna’s cheeks, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.” Reyna promises, emphatically.

“As touching as this reunion is,” Sofiá drawls as she comes into the clearing as well, “There’s a literal demon on our heels.” 

Hope dashes past all of them and gets to Lizze. “Are you okay?” She asks, her hand cupping Lizzie’s cheek. Besides looking incredibly weak and sweaty, Lizzie is no worse for wear.

Lizzie leans into her hand, her eyes sinking shut. “I can feel how strong she’s getting. She’s going to kill me, Hope.” She whispers. 

Her voice holds a terror Hope has never heard before. It makes her feel protective in a way she’s never experienced. It comes from somewhere deep and she knows with a surety that she would kill everyone in this world before she let someone hurt Lizzie. 

“Jesus Christ, Mikaelson,” Cameron grumbles, even Reyna turning back to look at Hope with a nose wrinkled in disgust, “Why don’t you just go ahead and piss on her that’d probably be more effective.” 

Isabella’s face is screwed up like she’s smelled something foul but her mouth is still cracked open like she’s about to laugh. She gives Hope a cheeky thumbs up instead. Hope flushes and avoids Lizzie’s questioning gaze. She knew that she was a wolf deep down but it wasn’t such an easily accessible part of her like her witch abilities were. It would be just her luck that Lizzie would drag it out of her. 

Their moment is all spoiled by a cackling coming from the treeline. 

Josie steps into the blood red moonlight and claps her hands slowly. “How wonderful,” She purrs, “All my ducks in a row to kill.” 

They all shift into defense mode. Isabella gets her hands up and Sofiá cracks her neck and fingers standing next to her. Reyna stands beside Cameron, both of them hunched and ready to attack. Hope spins around to face Lizzie and cups her hands between her own. 

“Do not leave this circle.” Hope says very seriously. 

Lizzie’s eyes aren’t even focused on her. She watches as they stay fixated on Josie, who was still slowly surveying them all. Josie looks down at the ring of salt and a hint of dismay crosses her features. 

“It won’t save you,” Josie hisses, her black filled eyes boring deep into Lizzie’s soul, “You have to die.” 

“Like hell she will!” Hope fires back, “We already know what you are, _Veritas._ We know how to defeat you.” 

Josie’s features contort briefly into anger before her body is enveloped in thick black smoke. The smell of fire and brimstone and blood is heavy as it works it’s way up in a spiral to cover well above Josie’s head. None of them are surprised at the hulking form of the demon as the smoke disappears. 

“ _Is that so, little girl?_ ” Veritas booming laugh echoes around them. 

The wolves use the moment of distraction to attack. The demon merely bats them all away with a wide swing of its arm. 

“For the last two weeks I’ve been slipping Lizzie herbs to make her stronger. I knowingly tipped the scales so Josie would lose.” Hope confesses. She looks at Penelope and hopes the remorse in her eyes is enough. If she had to choose between the twins Lizzie was her choice hands down. She knew that Penelope would do the same if the roles were reversed. 

Veritas gives a slight pause and they all watch in fascination as he shrinks a few inches. It does nothing for his temper because he cuts a slash that nearly slices Sofiá in half. She gets away with a wound to her upper arm instead. It’s like they all catch on immediately to Hope’s plan, realize exactly what she’s doing as they all gather themselves and begin to go through their own share of secrets. Sofiá hisses angrily as she charges Veritas once more, but the end of the sword collides harshly with her stomach and sends her spiraling into Penelope.

Isabella seems to notice because she delivers a punch to Veritas back that gets him to whip around with a roar and says, “I slept with Rafael and I never told Sofiá about it.”

Veritas shrinks down another two inches and Isabella is able to dodge his next blow and knock his axe from his hand. Her blows continue, her secret seems to add to the furious attitude she has as she knocks a harsh stomp to his knee and uppercuts his jaw. It seems so easy, how quickly their truths seem to bring him down. Isabella feels tears of fury stain her cheeks as she turns her head to see Sofiá watching her, her blue eyes wide and her full lips parted in distress to the reveal.

Isabella shakes her head, “We bonded about losing our mates and it just happened. We both regretted it immediately.”

“I can’t believe you slept with him!” Sofiá snaps as she charges at Veritas. “How could you do that? How could you not tell me?”

Isabella looks extremely uncomfortable, “It was an accident!”

“How do you accidentally fall on someone's dick?”

“Hey!” Reyna crows, “Don’t talk to her like that!”

“I realize we are a little pissed about this secret, but we need to focus!” Penelope calls as she scrambles towards them. “It’s working!”

Reyna turns her head away from Sofiá and sees Veritas looking a little winded under Cameron’s flurry of blows. She watches in horror as Cameron missteps and Veritas pulls his fist back in a sickening punch that lands right in the center of Cameron’s face. Her girlfriend stumbles and Veritas lands another punch, this one missing her face and hitting her sternum. He swats off Sofiá’s helping attack easily and Reyna’s screaming across the clearing before she realizes it. 

“I felt forced to fall in love with Cameron!” 

Everything grinds to a halt.

The sword hangs mid air, the blade catching the moon light and casting a certain glow on Reyna’s horror stricken face. Across the clearing, Cameron spins to look at her with blood gushing from her nose and her disoriented eyes still somehow conveying heartbreak. It’s enough to make Reyna stumble back as if her own secret has winded her, has knocked her world off its axis just like it has Cameron’s.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Penelope gasps.

Veritas shrinks down to a measly six feet, his muscles wilting into something smaller and closer to Josie’s true form. Penelope starts forward, her hand extended and a vicious spell rolls off her tongue as she watches Veritas begin to fold. She sees the way his shadow dwindles, his fingers loosen around the grip of his blade, and a pained expression crosses his face. And then it’s gone, it’s gone and replaced with a snarl as he charges her and wipes down everything in his path. Isabella starts for her, her expression one of terror, but Veritas merely bats her away like a pesky fly as he finally clears the distance between him and Penelope.

“You.” Veritas growls.

Penelope forces a smile, “Me.”

“ _You will be her downfall.”_ Veritas hisses as he clamps a hand around her throat. “ _You will be the very thing that destroys her._ ”

“Oh...yeah...?”

“ _I won’t allow it.”_

“I stole an entire exam from Alaric’s office the first year I got here.” Penelope wheezes, and she feels his grip loosen. “Oh. You don’t like that, huh? You don’t like hearing the truth without dragging it out yourself?”

Veritas roars, “ _Silence!”_

“How about this one, bitch? Josie was a dare. Jed and I had a dare about who could ask her out first.” Penelope hisses as he finally drops his hand. “And I won.”

_“I said silence!_ ”

“At first, it was just a game. It was all a game to me, and I don’t like to lose.” Penelope whispers. “I was going to break up with her after a month, but I fell in love with her in a week. So, get the fuck out of my girlfriend.”

Veritas screams in agony.

“Is it my turn?” Sofiá purrs.

Veritas swings his large hand and catches her across the mouth hard enough to twist Sofiá’s head sideways. The demon turns back to Penelope once Sofiá is momentarily down, and his fist slams hard into her chest and she is rolling across the forest floor with a sickening crash. A smirk slides across his face as he looks back to Sofiá and slams a boot down into her stomach, watches as she arches and sputters up a cough of blood as she grapples onto his foot and releases a gleeful laugh.

“ _And what, may I ask, is so funny? You are at my mercy, you wretched vampire. You should be begging for mercy.”_

“You aren’t going to make me beg for anything, you cloud of shit. Wanna know why? Because I’m about to rock your shit.” Sofiá warns as she pushes at his foot. “Do you want to know my secret, sir?”

“ _Keep still. Accept your fate._ ”

“I’d rather you hear my secret.” Sofiá laughs, her teeth tinted with a film of blood. “I helped Cameron hunt down Reyna’s dirtbag of an ex. Wanna know why I was there? What _I_ did? I slaughtered his entire pack.”

“ _No!_ ”

“Oh, but I did. I killed them all one by one. I wanted it to hurt.” Sofiá hisses. “I watched them die, watched the life leave each one of their eyes. It was enough for me, more than enough.”

Veritas roars in distress and slams his foot harder into her abdomen. It doesn’t matter to Sofiá that no one has come to her aid, she doesn’t dare look around to see what kind of expressions are being thrown her way. She doesn’t care. All she cares about is saving her life and the lives of those she loves, all she cares about is getting rid of this demon once and for all. So, if that means revealing this and breaking hearts then so be it.

Sofiá coughs out a chuckle, “Wanna know what else? I killed every single person in that village, spared the kids but axed every fucking adult. Wanna know why? Because they knew. They all fucking knew what he was doing to Reyna.”

Veritas snarls loudly as he reaches down and grabs her by her leather jacket and slams her into a tree, feels the bark give away underneath her weight. And then his sword is slicing through her abdomen and pinning her there, and it _hurts_. It hurts more than she wants to admit, but she continues to laugh. She spits blood down the front of her shirt and looks down at the blade that keeps her upright. She might die, but she’s going to do it with honesty on her lips and a smile on her face.

“I left them to rot, and I continued on with my life because it meant nothing.” Sofiá pants. “And I’d do it all over again. Every man, woman, and fucking wolf. They hurt her and I hurt them. Fair is fair. How’s that for a truth, bitch?”

Cameron’s eyes grow wide as this truth is revealed, “ _What?”_

They all look unsettled by this but none more than Reyna. Veritas shrinks down to Josie’s height and shape, her hands and legs start to materialize behind the smoke. 

“Y-You hunted him?” Reyna asks slowly, “You killed him, Sof?”

“No. _I_ killed that son of a bitch.” Cameron growls, her teeth bared, “I chased him like the little rodent he is through the forest. I could have caught him easily, he’s no match for my alpha, but I toyed with him for hours.”

Veritas attempts to strike her but its slow enough that Cameron is able to dodge. 

“Do you know what he did when I finally grew bored?” Cameron hisses. “He showed me his belly. Too tired to keep running, he just gave up. Do you know what I did?”

Once again, Veritas moves to land another blow but it’s slower than the first, the truth of Cameron’s darkest secret weakening it to its core. Cameron parries the movement and gets Veritas in a chokehold. She gets Veritas to his knees and nods at Lizzie and Hope. Her chest heaves for breath and there’s blood all over her face, coating her clothes and senses but she doesn’t think about anything that isn’t the task at hand. 

“I ripped him apart piece by piece.” Cameron whispers, not an ounce of shame in her words. 

Cameron kicks Veritas right between Josie’s shoulder blades hard enough to send it into the center of the circle and he roars and spits but isn’t able to move out of the circle.

“I had a plan to kill Lizzie.”

Josie’s voice comes through, weak and hallow.

“I had the spells down. I brewed the potions. I read every almanac in preparation for a blood moon, to make sure it would work. I had the dagger, I held it in my hands and I sharpened the blade with anger in my heart.”

Veritas squirms and Josie continues to push through, her form comes through clearer. Around the circle, Hope circles her arms protectively around Lizzie who turns her face into red hair and releases a sob. It’s all too much to hear. Isabella is desperately trying to help Sofiá down, her sobs feral as her girlfriend seems too weak to even move. Cameron is facing off with Reyna who has decided to push down her own feelings in favor of holding her girlfriend up, keeping her from falling. And Penelope is weakly crawling her way towards the circle, blood matting her hair and caking her face.

“You can fight this, baby!” Penelope calls as she nears the circle. “This is what this was all about, isn’t it? You thought we were lying to each other, to _you._ You wanted answers and we wouldn’t give them to you.”

“I purposely ruined Hope and Lizzie’s friendship when we were kids, I told them lie after lie. I kept them apart. I knew...I always knew that they could love each other, and I couldn’t stand it. It wasn’t _fair_.”

Veritas screeches, “ _Don’t do this, my pet.”_

“I hated Cameron. Part of me still does. I see how she is with Penelope, I see how they look at each other and isn’t right. I have a fear, deep in my soul, that one day Penelope will realize that Cameron is the one for her.”

“Not a fucking chance, Saltzman.” Cameron wheezes. “I adore her and she is my fucking heart, but we’re just best friends. That’s all we’ll ever be. You understand me? It’ll never happen. I would never do that to you. You’re pack.”

“I don’t know what that means anymore. I don’t know if I’m pack because you want me to be or because you know that Penelope loves me. I wanted to ruin the pack, and I wanted to ruin your friendships…”

“You fucking failed, Josette.” Sofiá gargles.

Isabella steadies her girlfriend and helps her drop to her knees before the circle, “We’re a family, we’ll always see our way through anything. Even this. Even these secrets.”

“I wanted to be loved.”

“You are!” Lizzie sobs. “Josie, you _are._ You always have been, you always will be. You’re Penelope’s soulmate, you’re an important part of the pack, you’re my _twin_. There isn’t a life if you’re not here, I won’t be able to just move on if you go. I can’t. I refuse.”

Veritas seems to disappear into Josie, a single thread of smoke disappears into her nose and she falls back and arches. Penelope claws at the ground as she sees the black blood that oozes from Josie’s ears, mouth, nose, and eyes. It sprays like a fountain from Josie’s mouth as her bones contort painfully, and the shadow flashes around her form once more before the ground begins to part and a fire builds below Josie. It’s hot and everyone ducks away from it, but Lizzie dives forward without a second thought and latches onto her sister’s hand.

“Lizzie!” Hope yells over the roar of the flames as the ground begins to shake. “Lizzie, no! Get back! You’ll…”

“I won’t let her go!” Lizzie exclaims as she latches onto Josie’s wrist. “We came into this world together, and we’ll go to hell together if that’s what our ending is meant to be.”

“Well, you’re not going without me!”

“Are you fucking insane?” Cameron growls as she catches Hope’s arm just as her hand catches Lizzie. “What is wrong with you?”

Hope tightens her grasp on Lizzie’s leg, “I just got her, Cameron. I’m not giving her up now, I’m not giving her up _ever._ ”

“You just have to be the hero, don’t you? Can’t stay out of it for once?” Isabella groans as she loops an arm around Cameron’s waist. “If I go to hell, I’m going to kill you.”

Reyna barely manages to grab Isabella as the chain of teens begin to slip to the ring of fire, “I second that statement!”

“I have so many fucking broken bones, you bitches.” Sofiá huffs as she flops onto her stomach to latch onto Reyna. “I am genuinely a body of jello right now.”

Penelope grunts with effort as she extends a hand and narrows her eyes, “The strength I lack, matched by my pack, close this portal and pull them back.”

The flyaway spell is enough to do what needs to be done as a sharp gust of wind twists their hair into messy piles and the ground closes with a squeal. As quickly as this mess began, it ends. It ends with a pack sitting in shattered pieces wondering how the hell they’re going to survive whatever just happened. Penelope pants in exhaustion as she collapses back and stares up at the dark sky, watches the clouds paint themselves over the moon. It’s _over_. Somehow, it’s really over. A laugh of disbelief leaves her as her vision begins to swim and the adrenaline drains slowly from her body.

“Josie?” Penelope whispers.

“She’s out cold.” Cameron grumbles from where her face is pressed into the dirt. “And it’s probably a good thing because I would’ve knocked her ass out myself.”

Sofiá coughs weakly, “I think I’m dead.”

“How many people did you kill?”

The question breaks through their victorious moment, and reality crashes upon them. Isabella sounds so meek, but almost understanding. With a struggle, Penelope lifts her weight onto her elbows to glance curiously at Sofiá who manages to roll onto her back so she can avoid looking at anyone as her face rushes through a slew of emotions. It’s a loaded question, but it’s fair. This is all now on the table, this out in the open. After a moment, Sofiá gasps and lifts her shirt to reveal that jagged mess of a wound that is slowly healing on her abdomen.

“Why do I have to answer first? I don’t remember any of you getting speared into a tree.” Sofiá grumbles. “Look, maybe we shouldn’t talk about it. Maybe it’s best we…”

“I want to talk about it.” Reyna whispers.

Sofiá immediately stiffens, “There were six men and eight women in his pack. I...I lost count of how many villagers I killed, I spared the children and made sure they were taken care of.”

“How many children were left without families? They’re going to grow up orphans.” Hope scoffs with a shake of her head. “You don’t realize how hard that is.”

“Except that I _do._ My parents were killed too, Hope.” Sofiá points out. “Those people were just as much to blame as Reyna’s ex, they knew what type of person Ryan was. They should’ve put a stop to it.”

“You don’t get to play judge and jury.” Cameron argues.

“You have no room to point a finger.” Isabella snaps, her tone harsh. “You murdered someone too, Cameron.”

“I did the world a favor.” Cameron snorts.

“You still murdered someone.” Isabella scolds. “I realize that Ryan was scum, he didn’t deserve to breathe, but you kept this from Reyna. That was her battle to fight.”

“She never would’ve fought it.” Cameron hisses as she glances to her girlfriend. “I thought I was protecting the woman I love, the woman who I thought loved me too.”

Reyna startles, “ _Thought?_ ”

“I mean, after all, you were _forced_ to love me. I basically pushed you into it.” Cameron scoffs. “I forced you into wanting me.”

“Those words never left my mouth!”

“They kinda did.” Penelope mumbles.

Reyna rounds on Penelope with a snarl, “This coming from the girl who literally started dating Josie as a fucking _joke_.”

“Hey, I realized the error of my ways quickly. At least Josie wasn’t in love with me.” Penelope points out. “We were new, it was fresh. I knew I wanted her two days into chasing her.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry. How could I ever think that saint Penelope could be anything other than perfect?” Reyna coos.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Cameron orders.

Reyna sneers, “Yeah. Jump to her defense.”

“Look, we all said some things…”

“It’s better that you don’t try to play martyr right now, Isa.” Cameron jumps in with a glare. “You slept with fucking Rafael and didn’t have the balls to tell us.”

“It was a _mistake_!” Isabella cries.

The arguing continues to grow in volume and Lizzie glances down to watch as Josie begins to stir, her lashes fluttering on her cheeks. She knows that she can break their argument with telling them that Josie is awake, but she wants her sister to see the damage she has caused. She doesn’t want to _punish_ Josie, but it’s only fair her sister gets a sneak peek into what she has left for the pack to rebuild. Josie groans softly as she opens her eyes and fidgets in Lizzie’s lap before her hazy eyes zero in on Reyna and Isabella who are standing and in each other’s faces while Cameron and Sofiá are trading blows that are more like weak taps.

“M’s going on?” Josie slurs.

Lizzie glances down at her, “You got your truths.”

Cameron struggles to shove Sofiá, “We agreed to take that secret to the grave.”

“What the fuck was I supposed to do?” Sofiá demands. “Was I supposed to stand back and watch all of you _die_? I knew my secret would end this, I knew it would be the biggest one.”

“You said you didn’t hurt anyone.” Cameron growls. “You swore that you just subdued them, that you made sure I wasn’t being followed. Why did you _lie_ to me?”

“Because I’m smarter than you are, I don’t have an alpha ego weighing me down.” Sofiá laughs as she allows Cameron to push her. “Do you think they would’ve allowed this to end if their alpha didn’t come back? You showed your face, they knew who you were. They would’ve hunted you down and killed Reyna right in front of you. I was protecting her.”

“Oh, because murdering humans is so very helpful.” Cameron snarls. “How many children had to watch their parents die?”

“Too many.” Sofiá admits as she throws her arms up in defeat. “And I don’t regret it, not a second of it. I’d do it all over again even if it meant having to repeat this very moment.”

Cameron falters, “You’re _sick_.”

“No. I’m right.” Sofiá hisses as she steps into Cameron’s space, their faces inches apart. “I’m right and you hate that. You hate that just for a second, my alpha dick was bigger than yours.”

Cameron releases a cry of fury and launches herself at Sofiá, “Shut the fuck up!”

“They’re going to fucking break more bones and it’s going to take them longer to heal.” Isabella grumbles as she steps forward, but Reyna latches onto her arm. “What?”

“Why Rafael?”

“Because he was there.” Isabella huffs as she pulls her arm away. “Why did you force yourself to fall for Cameron?”

“Because…” Reyna trails off as her eyes well with tears. “Because she was there. Because she needed me to.”

“Then I guess we’re both fucked up.” Isabella whispers with a hard swallow. “Get Cameron off of my girlfriend.”

Reyna nods and manages to catch Cameron around the waist as she makes a lunge, “You need to relax.”

“Fuck that!” Cameron exclaims.

“You too, Sof.” Isabella orders, and Sofiá doesn’t hesitate to sink into her girlfriend’s hold. “What are we doing? Why are we fighting like this? We’re supposed to be a family.”

Cameron snorts, “A family full of liars.”

“They weren’t lies, they were secrets.” Penelope snaps as she finally steps into the fray. “Were they fucked up secrets? Hell yeah. But we all kept them for a reason, and that was to protect each other.”

“It shouldn’t be like that…”

“No. You’re right. It shouldn’t.” Penelope nods as she meets Cameron’s glare. “But it is. We can’t change the things we chose to hide from each other anymore than we can change the outcome of Josie’s demon summoning. It’s just...it _happened_. It all happened and now we have to live with it, alright?”

“I’m so sorry.”

The voice comes out in a dry, throaty whisper and all eyes snap to see Lizzie struggling to help Josie to her feet. Penelope is the first to move, her body naturally gravitates towards Josie and gathers her gently in her arms. Soft lips trail over Josie’s skin, breath in a scent that she has been missing so desperately over the last few days. Penelope tightens her grip as tears begin to fill her eyes, as they begin to make burning trails down her face. She has her girl back, in all her meek and adorable glory. A soft sob breaks through the moment and Penelope lifts her head to meet Josie’s lips, to breathe every acceptance to her apology into her lungs.

“I’m so sorry.” Josie repeats, the words stronger against Penelope’s lips. “I was so scared, and I was angry. I thought I was alone and I panicked, I just wanted answers.”

Cameron cards a hand through her hair, “I know you wanted answers and I’m trying not to be upset, I really am. But you could’ve gotten us all killed. You could’ve gotten _yourself_ killed.”

“But I think we can all acknowledge and respect where you’re coming from, Josie.” Isabella assures her. “Did you go about it a little dramatically? Yes. Is this unfixable? Of course not. It’s just...it’ll take time.”

Sofiá eyes them all closely, “At least this shit is out in the open now. There’s no more lying, we can work through it. Talk about it. Ignore it. We can do whatever needs to be done.”

“You’re right.” Cameron nods as she offers her hand to Sofiá. “I’m sorry. For charging you like that. I put us all in danger with my pride and left you to clean up the mess.”

Sofiá accepts the hand slowly, “You didn’t leave me to do anything, I could’ve compelled them all to forget what they saw. I made the decision to take their lives.”

“And I made the decision to sleep with Rafael.”

“I made the decision to accept Jed’s bet.”

Reyna clears her throat, “And I made the best decision of my life by letting myself fall in love with Cameron.”

Cameron swallows hard and drops Sofiá’s hand so she can cross the distance between her and Reyna to gather her in her arms. She holds tight to her girlfriend, presses flutters of kisses along her cheeks and nose. It doesn’t matter what was said, it just matters where they go from here. Sofiá sighs at the interaction and approaches Isabella, opens her arms and bites her lip in relief when Isabella doesn’t hesitate to fall into her chest. This isn’t over, by any means. Words were said, things were heard. There are conversations to be had, arguments to work through; the outer demon may be lost in hell once more, but now they’re left with their inner demons.

“Reyna? Wanna help me get some gauze and shit?” Sofiá asks in a soft voice. “We need to patch up before we head back to campus.”

Reyna nods slowly, “Sure.”

Cameron is reluctant to let Reyna go, but she watches as the vampires blur off and leave a silence in the clearing. With a deep breath, Cameron turns and approaches Josie with a hardened stare. It’s full of ice, and Penelope immediately stiffens defensively as she curls herself around her girlfriend. Yet Cameron doesn’t stop, she squats in front of Josie and reaches out to pinch her chin between her thumb and pointer finger as she forces wide, apologetic eyes up to meet her own.

“You made a mistake.” Cameron whispers. “You put your pack in danger, and you should be exiled. You should be left to fend for yourself. I shouldn’t allow you back in, I shouldn’t allow you to hurt my family.”

Penelope gaps, “ _Cameron_.”

“But.” Cameron snaps as she shoots an annoyed glare towards Penelope. “You aren’t going anywhere because we love you and we can all relate to the fear you felt. I’ve felt it, deep in my bones. I’ve run from it, hid from it, and tried to destroy it. I tried, but sometimes all you can do is push it down and replace it.”

Josie’s lower lip quivers, “How?”

“By being present.” Cameron shrugs. “By going on dates with Penelope. Studying with Hope. Having dinner with Lizzie and your dad. Visiting your mom. Talking to me. Listening to music with Sofiá. Laughing with Reyna. Shopping with Isabella. By being with the people who absolutely _adore_ you.”

“But do you?” Josie scoffs. “Do you _really?”_

“I fucking do, Josette Saltzman. Wanna know why?” Cameron asks, and Josie simply gives a short nod. “Because you make me laugh so hard sometimes that it hurts. You help me cram for tests and you are an amazing roommate. You pretend not to notice when I track mud on the carpets. You treat my best friend with respect, you love her unconditionally. You love _us_ unconditionally.”

“I could’ve killed you guys…”

“Sticks and stones, dude.” Cameron chuckles. “I may very well have a punctured kidney and Isa is definitely rocking a broken knee, but we’re _here._ We survived because we did it together. We’re in this together for life, alright?”

Josie sniffles, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry that we ever made you feel like you weren’t enough for this pack.” Cameron sighs as she shakes her head. “I’m so sorry that you felt alone, Josie. No one should ever feel like that, and we won’t let it happen again.”

“So, we just move on? We don’t tell my dad or anyone about this?” Josie frowns. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“I mean, _somebody_ is gonna have to know because we fucked the campus up.” Cameron laughs. “But we can leave out the dark magic part, we can’t lose our little brainiac.”

Penelope shakes her head, “I definitely can’t.”

“Alright! We raided some shit and grabbed as much as we can.” Sofiá sighs as she blurs to drop an arm full of first aid tools. “Did we miss anything?”

“Nah.” Cameron replies as she winces and forces herself to stand. “Just making sure we all know that this pack isn’t going anywhere. We’re a family, we always will be.”

Josie eyes the hand Cameron extends, “Do you promise?”

“Always, Jo.” Cameron nods, and she smiles softly when a shaking hand settles in hers. “Now, let’s get cleaned up.”

The group silently scatter to tend to each other; Isabella is better suited with her magic and bruises while Sofiá seems to be a whiz with a needle and thread. They tend to Sofiá first, making sure to check that all her wounds are closing while her strength returns. Hope helps reset Isabella’s knee while Lizzie carefully cleans the dried blood off her sister’s face in order to find any damage. Overall, they look an absolute mess with their blood and bruises; yet they all know that this is just battle scars, a reminder of what they just survived.

“Ow! _Ow_!”

“Oh, stop.” Sofiá groans as she pops Penelope upside the head. “You act like you’ve never been stitched up before.”

“Definitely not by a vampire who acts like she’s on crack half the time.” Penelope grumbles as she clenches her jaw. “How the fuck did you even learn how to do this?”

“YouTube.” Isabella replies as she tosses Cameron an ice pack. “She was bored one night and I woke up to find her stitching herself up and calling herself Dr. Grey.”

“I would make an excellent doctor.” Sofiá huffs with a glance to Reyna. “What’s the verdict on our alpha?”

Reyna sighs heavily, “She’s fine. Just tired.”

“M’tired.” Cameron groans.

“I think we all are.” Josie whispers.

Her voice startles them all for a moment because it’s almost foreign, it lacks the emptiness its been carrying around for weeks. Penelope blows out a sigh as she curls her arms around Josie and pulls her girlfriend close, sprinkles kisses into the spots in her hair that aren’t caked with mud and blood. They survived. They’re here. Their school is in pieces and they have no idea how they’re going to explain this to Alaric, but all that matters is that they’re sitting in the clearing with salt around them and the safety of forever resting at their fingertips.

“Not gonna lie, I missed that voice.” Sofiá smirks as she shoots a wink Josie’s way. “No more demons taking over it, alright?”

Josie flushes, “I really am sorry.”

“Hey. We talked about it, it’s in the past. It’s over now.” Cameron assures her as she sits up from Reyna’s lap. “I mean, we’re all going to leave this shit in the past anyway. Right?”

A silence blankets them and it’s thick with tension as they all avoid meeting each other’s gazes. The things that were revealed tonight are things that will stick with them for a long time, poison their minds and keep them awake. Questions of untold secrets play on the tips of their tongues and wonders about the things revealed stay silent in the back of their throats. The secrets are like fresh wounds, they need time to heal before they can be picked at. Sofiá swallows hard as she sees Reyna subtly look away from her to focus back on the cut that is slowly healing itself along her rib cage.

“I’m just glad no one was hurt.” Josie sighs, but she winces as everyone glares at her. “Fine. How about I’m glad no one was _killed_?”

“Much better.” Reyna grumbles. “I really hope this is enough to make you see how far into this pack you are. Maybe just talk to one of us next time instead of getting yourself possessed.”

Josie smiles sheepishly, “Fair enough request.”

“And what’s going on here?” Sofiá smirks as she glances towards Hope and Lizzie. “You’re practically in her lap, Mikaelson. Got something to tell us?”

Hope rolls her eyes as she pulls the ice pack away from Lizzie’s swollen cheek, “Nothing that concerns you. I’m just helping my girlfriend ice her bruised face.”

“Girlfriend?” Lizzie asks.

“Yeah. Girlfriend.” Hope nods as she tilts Lizzie’s chin up to catch her gaze. “After all of this, I think we can both agree that waiting isn’t an option. I want you, I want _us_.”

“And it’s me you have.” Lizzie whispers.

“Yo.” Cameron cackles. “We are gay as _fuck_.”

A laughter erupts between the pack and it’s almost magical. When was the last time they had laughed like this? When is the next time they’ll be able to laugh like this? As their laughter dies, they begin to gather their ice packs and gauze as they start their trek back towards campus. Hope and Lizzie are at the front, their fingers loosely intertwined and their voices low as they trade soft words. Sofiá is beside Isabella, her arm draped over her shoulder as she presses soft kisses against braids and breathes her in. Reyna helps Josie, her arm around her waist as she struggles slightly and mumbles what sounds like a soft apology.

“You guys coming?” Reyna asks.

Cameron nods, “We’ll catch up in a second.”

“Okay.” Reyna whispers.

Cameron lingers in the clearing, “Penelope?”

“Hm?”

“It’s all going to change now. Now that all that shit came out.” Cameron mumbles as she kicks at the grass. “We kept shit from each other, we’re supposed to be a pack.”

Penelope winces, “We just work through it. Like you said, we’re a pack. We’re a family. We can figure it out.”

“Promise?” Cameron whispers.

“No.” Penelope scoffs as she looks to where their friends are slowly disappearing. “I can’t promise this time around, Cam. All I can do is hope that this shit didn’t fuck us up too bad.”

“But you and me?” Cameron demands as she holds a fist out towards her best friend. “We’re solid, right? Forever?”

Penelope knocks their fists together, “Forever.”

If only they knew how wrong they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is all we wrote...for now ;)


End file.
